First and foremost, JROTC is not what you’d initially think. They’re not a recruitment program into the military, nor do they persuade you into the forces. Instead, they help prepare you for life after high school. According to Jaden George, JROTC’s Corps Commander, “JROTC prepares you for life by teaching you how to be selfless. On our wall in the JROTC room there is a line that says ‘service before self’ and I think that is a really important building block in the construction of one’s character. There are many other ways that the AFJROTC program prepares you for life, like teaching you how to write a resumé, holding you genuinely accountable, and just teaching you professionalism through public speaking and wearing the uniform.” Character is a major part of creating a life later on, and this program clearly teaches that. This is one of the biggest parts of JROTC, and there are many ways the corps teaches this.

One way JROTC teaches cadets character is doing events for the community and for the corps. There are many community events the corps helps out with. The cadet handbook states, “Cadets will be given multiple opportunities to earn community service hours. These events may include Veterans Day, POW/MIA, Flag raising, Flag retirement, Wounded Warriors, Special Olympics, Blood drives, Valentine for Veterans, Help the Hungry, and Memorial Day ceremonies.” As you can see, the program does many events to help out the community, and they also do many events that benefit the corps itself, including the Freshman Mixer/Picnic, a trip to Dayton Ohio, CIA Trips, and clubs/sports such as Color Guard, Ensemble Team, Marksmanship Team, Flag Detail Team, and more.

If one were interested and would like to join JROTC, they could talk to Colonel Sparks or Sergeant Heflin, or add it to their schedule for the upcoming year. Anyone can join, but there are requirements such as wearing the uniform once a week, grooming standards (guys hair must be above the ear), and one must stay out of ISS and OSS. Sergeant Heflin and Colonel Sparks, JROTC’s instructors, take care of uniform costs and they have a groomer that cadets can go to if they can’t afford to get a haircut. Finances will never keep a student from joining JROTC. There are also community service hours one must complete, as was previously mentioned. According to Emily Childs, JROTC’s Vice Corps Commander, one must complete five national service hours. The corps will help cadets create a life after high school, build character, and help out the community. Anyone can join, in fact, they highly encourage anyone to join.