Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps

According to Title 10, Section 2031 of the United States Code, the purpose of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is "to instill in students in [the United States] secondary educational institutions the values of citizenship, service to the United States, and personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment." Additional objectives are established by the service departments of the Department of Defense. Under 542.4 of Title 32 (National Defense) of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Department of the Army has declared those objectives for each cadet to be: • Developing citizenship and patriotism • Developing self-reliance and responsiveness to all authority • Improving the ability to communicate well both orally and in writing • Developing an appreciation of the importance of physical fitness • Increasing a respect for the role of the U.S. Armed Forces in support of national objectives • Developing a knowledge of team building skills and basic military skills • Taking 1–3 years of the course grants cadets the ability to rank higher if they pursue a military career. Section 524.5 of the CFR National Defense title states in part that JROTC should "provide meaningful leadership instruction of benefit to the student and of value to the Armed Forces. ...Students will acquire: (1) An understanding of the fundamental concept of leadership, military art and science, (2) An introduction to related professional knowledge, and (3) An appreciation of requirements for national security. The dual roles of citizen/soldier and soldier/citizen are studied. ... These programs will enable cadets to better serve their country as leaders, as citizens, and in military service should they enter it. ... The JROTC and NDCC are not, of themselves, officer-producing programs but should create favorable attitudes and impressions toward the Services and toward careers in the Armed Forces." This, importantly, does not mean the cadet has any obligation to join any branch of the Armed Forces as the last sentence stresses. From 1916 to 1971, JROTC programs were not open to full participation from female students. Beginning in 1973 female participation was allowed in both college ROTC and high school JROTC when President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 93-165. The military has stated that JROTC will inform young Americans about the opportunities available in the military and "may help motivate young Americans toward military service." A 1999 Army policy memorandum stated that "While not designed to be a specific recruiting tool, there is nothing in existing law that precludes ... facilitating the recruitment of young men and women into the U.S. Army," directing instructors to "actively assist cadets who want to enlist in the military [and] emphasize service in the U.S. Army; facilitate recruiter access to cadets in JROTC program and to the entire student body ... [and] work closely with high school guidance counselors to sell the Army story." In a February 2000 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, the armed service chiefs of staff testified that 30%–50% of graduating JROTC cadets go on to join the military: • General James L. Jones, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, testified that the value of the Marine JROTC program "is beyond contest. Fully one-third of our young men and women who join a Junior ROTC program wind up wearing the uniform of a Marine." • General Eric K. Shinseki, then Chief of Staff of the United States Army, testified that "Our indications are about 30 percent of those youngsters—we don't recruit them, as you know. We are not permitted to do that. But by virtue of the things that they like about that experience, about 30 percent of them end up joining the Army, either enlisting or going on to ROTC and then joining the officer population." • General Michael E. Ryan, then Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, testified that "almost 50 percent of the folks that go [...] out of the Air Force Junior ROTC go into one of the Services by enlisting or going to ROTC or going to one of the academies." • Admiral Jay L. Johnson, then Chief of Naval Operations, testified that "Even if the number is only 30 percent, that is a good number. But think about what we get out of the other 70 percent. They have exposure to us. They have exposure to the military. And the challenge of the education mandate that we all share in principals and school counselors and school districts that won't let us in, that is a powerful tool I think to educate whether or not they end up in the service. So it is a long way around saying it is well worth the investment for lots of different reasons." General Colin Powell said in his 1995 autobiography that "the armed forces might get a youngster more inclined to enlist as a result of Junior ROTC," but added that "Inner-city kids, many from broken homes, found stability and role models in Junior ROTC." U.S. Congress found in the Recruiting, Retention, and Reservist Promotion Act of 2000 that JROTC and similar programs "provide significant benefits for the Armed Forces, including significant public relations benefits." Former United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen referred to JROTC as "one of the best recruitment programs we could have." ==Organization==

Six of the eight branches of the Uniformed services of the United States maintain a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, organized into units. There are a total of 3,275 units: • 1,744 Army AJROTC units • 794 Air Force AFJROTC units • 583 Navy NJROTC units • 260 Marine Corps MCJROTC units • 10 Space Force SFJROTC units • 14 Coast Guard CGJROTC units Prior to 1967 the number of units was limited to 1,200. The cap was increased to 1,600 units in 1967 and again to 3,500 units in 1992; the statutory limitation on the number of units was struck from the law in 2001. Their goal was to reach 3,500 units by February 2011 by encouraging program expansion into educationally and economically deprived areas. Units are set up according to the layout of their parent service, often referred to as the "Chain of Command." Army JROTC units follow a company (usually the period the class is held in), battalion (all periods), and at larger events brigade (multiple battalions) structure. Marine Corps JROTC units follow the battalion, or in cases of larger size, brigade structure. Air Force JROTC units are composed structurally based on size. Individual if one, detail if 2, element if more than 2 and no more than 8, flight if 26, squadron if more than 51, group if more than 101, and wing if more than 251 cadets. Navy JROTC typically follows the company (100-149 cadets), battalion (150-299 cadets), or regiment (300+ cadets) structure depending on the size of the unit. JROTC funding JROTC is partly funded by the United States Department of Defense with an allocation in the military budget of about $340 million for the fiscal year 2007, of which about 68 million are personnel costs. The federal government subsidizes instructor salaries, cadet uniforms, equipment and textbooks. The instructors, usually retired military personnel, continue to receive retirement pay from the Federal government, but in addition, the schools pay the difference from what the instructors would receive if they were on active duty. The service concerned then reimburses the school for approximately one-half of the amount paid by the school to the instructor. Note: Space Force JROTC funding is included in Air Force JROTC. Military staff and instructors Although active duty officers may be assigned to JROTC, this is exceedingly rare, and is primarily limited to staff at the major command or sub-command headquarters overseeing each service's respective JROTC program or regional administrators overseeing a set number of individual units. Unlike the college/university ROTC program, which is an actual military officer training and accession track, the vast majority of NJROTC instructors are retired from the sponsoring branch of the Armed Forces. In the Army JROTC program, the cadet unit at each school is directed by at least one retired commissioned officer (in the grade of Captain through Colonel) or a Warrant Officer (in the grade of WO1 through CW5) who is designated as the Senior Army Instructor, and who is assisted by at least one retired Non-Commissioned Officer in the grade of Staff Sergeant through Command Sergeant Major who is designated as an Army Instructor (AI). In certain situations, there may be additional instructors. A new provision from the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Section 540) that was signed into law in October 2006 permits retired Reserve Component officers and noncommissioned officers to be hired as instructors. There are no national requirements that JROTC instructors have the teaching credential required by other teachers in public high school, although there are a handful of counties that do require a teaching credential. In at least one jurisdiction (California), the government requires JROTC instructors to have at least four years of military experience and possess a high school diploma or equivalent. AJROTC instructors need to be within one year of retirement or retired from active military service for five or fewer years. MCJROTC instructors need to have graduated from high school, have at least 20 years of active military service and be physically qualified according to Marine Corps standards. AFJROTC previously required a minimum of 20 years of active duty but has since been overridden by a provision in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Section 540), signed into law in October 2006, permitting retired Reserve Component (e.g., Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard officers and noncommissioned officers) to be hired as instructors. Officer instructors need to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree, while a high school diploma or equivalent is sufficient for enlisted instructors. For AJROTC the Non-commissioned Officer has to attain an associate degree (AA), with teaching credential, in order to be assigned an AI. To be assigned as a SAI the AJROTC Instructor has to hold a BA degree, with teaching credentials. NJROTC also required a minimum of 20 years of active duty until it was overridden by a provision in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Section 540), signed into law in October 2006, permitting retired Reserve Component personnel (e.g., U.S. Navy Reserve officers, chief petty officers and petty officers) to be hired as NJROTC instructors. The minimum education requirement for an enlisted Naval Science Instructor (NSI) is a high school diploma or equivalent, with a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university required for a commissioned officer to serves as a Senior Naval Science Instructor (SNSI). The Navy requires that JROTC instructors be employees of the school or school district and that they are accorded the same status as other school faculty members. National Defense Cadet Corps National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC) offers similar programs as JROTC. NDCC units differ from JROTC in that they receive little or no financial support from the Armed Forces; uniforms, equipment, other materials and instructor salaries must normally be furnished by the school hosting an NDCC program. Except for the funding aspects, JROTC and NDCC programs are virtually identical, although the cadet corps is not limited by the federal statute that restricts JROTC to offering courses only for students in ninth through 12th grades. Per 2005, Chicago had 26 Middle School Cadet Corps enlisting more than 850 students. ==Instruction and activities==

The Code of Federal Regulations states that JROTC is "designed for physically fit citizens attending participating schools." Boarding schools or (pre-college) military schools may offer JROTC programs, with some requiring participation as a condition for acceptance to the school. Some public military schools mandate JROTC as a class for all grade levels, and have a curriculum that includes military history, military protocol, civics, and physical fitness. The JROTC program stresses military discipline, with a curriculum that emphasizes study of military science and military history. Cadets typically wear their uniforms once or twice a week, usually standing for inspection, with the exception being those cadets who attend a JROTC-based military academy. Their creed encourages conduct that brings credit to family, country, school and the corps of cadets, loyalty, citizenship and patriotism. Many cadets participate in extracurricular activities such as the following: • Drill (unarmed, armed and regulation drill) • Color Guard • PT team or Raiders • Rocketry (usually available in AFJROTC) • Orienteering • Rifle or pistol marksmanship programs (offered by at least two-thirds of JROTC units) • Academic Team • Drum corps • Marching Band (although very rare) The most notable JROTC marching band is the Virginia 91st Air Force Junior ROTC Band of the Randolph-Macon Academy. Being a rare part of a JROTC unit, there are few in existence, with the state of Texas only boasting two units with marching bands. There are other extracurricular activities that the JROTC's programs provide for their cadets, including trips to military installations, ROTC college programs, and other sites that give the cadets a look at the military community. During the school year, there are regional competitions between JROTC units, with testing in all areas of military, naval and aerospace science. Some units organize special visits to US military bases during school breaks. There are also many summertime "leadership academies" for cadets hosted by various military installations. These academies include the JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl (JLAB), and JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC), a physical fitness competition. Cadets may be awarded ribbons, ribbon devices, medals and aiguillettes for participation in JROTC and team activities, as well as for personal academic and athletic achievement and leadership. Awards may be presented by organizations other than the cadet's JROTC program, such as other JROTC programs, Military Officers Association of America, American Veterans, Order of the Daedalians, American Legion, and the National Rifle Association of America. Ribbons and medals are positioned in order of precedence, as prescribed by the Cadet Field Manual and the senior JROTC instructor. Successful completion of a JROTC Program (1–3 years of classes) can lead to advanced rank upon enlistment in the Armed Forces. For example, upon completion of three years of Air Force JROTC, cadets may at their instructor's discretion enlist in the Air Force at the rank of Airman First Class (E-3). However, JROTC participation incurs no obligation to join the military. Subjects that are covered in all three levels include history, literature, current events and JROTC curriculum. Depending on the represented branch, there may be 4-8 cadets representing a school. National High School Drill Team Championship Established in 1982, the National High School Drill Team Championship is a joint-service exhibition drill competition for JROTC drill teams, held in Daytona Beach, Florida. Although it has been held since 1982, it only became an officially service-based sanctioned event when the U.S. Army Cadet Command became the sponsor in 1988. ==Awards and decorations==

Army Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Air and Space Forces Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Medals and Decorations of JROTC ==Career military who were members of JROTC==

Many members of JROTC go on to have careers in the United States Armed Forces as they are twice as likely to enlist than other high school students. Some notable former members of JROTC include: • William J. Bordelon, Central Catholic Marianist High School 1938, staff sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, awarded the Medal of Honor • Harry B. Harris Jr., admiral, U.S. Navy; first Asian-American to achieve the rank of admiral in the Navy; served as commander of U.S. Pacific Command • Baldomero Lopez, first lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, awarded the Medal of Honor • James Cartwright, general, U.S. Marine Corps, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff • Shoshana Johnson, specialist, U.S. Army, first female African-American prisoner of war in the history of the United States military (medically retired) • Emily Perez, Oxon Hill High School 2001, second lieutenant, U.S. Army; first Class of 9/11 West Point graduate to die in the Iraq War • Alan G. Rogers, major, U.S. Army • Allen B. West, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army and United States Representative from Florida, Henry Grady High School JROTC • Thomas E. White, brigadier general, U.S. Army, Secretary of the Army, 2001–2003 • Charles D. "Ranger Dave" Sellers, major, U.S. Air Force & U.S. Army, Booker High School JROTC, 1986-1990 • Thomas A. Schwartz, general, U.S. Army, United States Army Forces Commander, 1998-1999 ==Controversy==

There has been controversy about JROTC and militarism in schools. War Resisters League, and the Project on Youth and Nonmilitary Opportunities, actively oppose the JROTC for a number of reasons, including: • High cost—A 1999 report by the American Friends Service Committee found that local school districts ended up paying substantially more than the cost estimate the military provided, and that a JROTC program cost more on a per-pupil basis than academic, non-military instruction. • Lack of local control—The CCCO is concerned that the federal military dictates the JROTC curriculum and selects the instructors, resulting in local school districts losing control of curriculum and staff. • Low-quality curriculum—The CCCO considers the JROTC textbooks to contain substandard learning material with factual distortions and outdated methods of teaching, basing their conclusions on a 1995 academic study of the Army JROTC curriculum commissioned by the American Friends Service Committee, which argues that the curriculum narrows the viewpoint of the students, encourages blind following rather than critical thinking, and indoctrinates students in militaristic authoritarian loyalty and passivity. Veterans for Peace resolved that JROTC teaching that the government gives the citizens its rights "is a complete perversion of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence." aims to "eliminate the Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps in our High Schools." Many cases of abuse by JROTC instructors, as well as credentialing issues, and of having students forced into JROTC due to lack of space in physical education classes have been noted in Los Angeles Public Schools. The group claims 2006 showed a reduction in JROTC enrollment in Los Angeles, with a drop of one-third or approximately 1,500 students, suggesting part of the explanation is efforts to stop the involuntary enrollment of students into JROTC. At Roosevelt High School in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, a local campaign against JROTC cut the number of cadets 43 percent in four years, with a JROTC instructor reporting a 24 percent drop in enrollment from 2003–04 to 2006-07 for the rest of the Los Angeles unified School District. In October 2005, the New York Civil Liberties Union pressured Hutchinson Central Technical High School in Buffalo, New York to release students from a mandatory JROTC program, arguing that the practice violates the State's Education Law, which provides that no child may be enrolled in JROTC without prior written parental consent. In May 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union stated that JROTC violates the United Nations sponsored Convention on the Rights of the Child by targeting students as young as 14 for recruitment to the military. The United States has not ratified the convention, although it has ratified an optional protocol to the Convention on "the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict." However, recruiting is not an official goal of JROTC, as stated in United States Code pertaining to the program. Sexual harassment and assault of JROTC cadets by instructors is reported to have occurred in the program, and some instructors have been criminally charged in relation to these crimes. Lack of oversight and the minimal training required for instructors have been cited as factors contributing to this problem. In 2023, Congress approved new rules that require the JROTC program to have increased oversight in the management and reporting of misconduct and sexual abuse allegations. Some school districts in the U.S. have essentially mandated the JROTC program for high school programs, despite DoD guidelines requiring the program to be elective. These mandates affect students of racial minorities disproportionately. ==See also==

• Atlanta Public Schools' JROTC Pass-in-Review • Union HS Army JROTC Unarmed Regulation at Central Regional Drill Competition 2019 • North Salem HS JROTC Vanir Guard Color Guard @ The Nationals, 5 May 2017 • Joint Service Academic Bowl Championship • Ozark High School JROTC Drill Team 2017 • Virginia 91st Air Force JROTC Band at Fall Family Day Parade 2015 • JROTC Spring Competition - Lincoln Drum Corps 2015 ==External links==