Chapter 12 - JROTC Militarizes American Youth
The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is a military program offered at over 3,402 high schools nationwide – 65% of them in the South – with a total enrollment of 557,129 students. Over half of these JROTC units are run by the Army, while the Navy, Air Force, and Marines each run several hundred programs. In 2009, Congress required the Secretary of Defense to implement a plan to increase the number of JROTC units to not less than 3,700 by 2020.
Despite assurances by the Cadet Command regarding the voluntary nature of the JROTC program, 9th grade students are sometimes required to enroll in the military program. Quite often, schools allow JROTC to substitute for legitimate academic courses, providing a lifeline to JROTC programs that would otherwise have trouble maintaining minimum enrollment numbers.
Like other military programs operating in the nation’s high schools, JROTC is marketed as a public service to American communities without revealing its tie-in to recruiting or other controversial aspects of the program. The Army says JROTC “teaches students character education, student achievement, wellness, leadership, and diversity” while fostering in each school a “more constructive and disciplined learning environment.” From the perspective of the military mind, this may all be true, but in the civilian world, where there is greater emphasis on developing critical thinking skills, military notions of a more disciplined learning environment stifle creativity and smother individuality. Take, for instance, the unit on the U.S. Constitution in the Army’s sophomore-year textbook. It is called “You the People” rather than “We the People.” Obedience to the chain of command is valued above all. Questioning authority is not part of the curriculum.
Approximately 1,723 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine units offer rifle marksmanship programs to their cadets. JROTC programs often operate in schools that aggressively enforce “no gun” zones. Many of these schools have federal and state-supported programs that teach children ways to solve conflicts nonviolently. Providing rifle practice as an integral part of state-supported education is awful public policy.
JROTC is a non-academic elective that may put students at a disadvantage in applying for colleges and universities. Courses are often taught by retired soldiers with high school diplomas. JROTC is used as a substitute for rigorous physical education programs as well as academic subjects in many schools. For instance, Florida allows JROTC to substitute for physical science, biology, practical arts, and life management skills. Students at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Florida who take JROTC for two years satisfy both the physical education and fine arts requirements for graduation. If schools refused to allow students to substitute required academic courses for JROTC, the military program would be forced to shut down in many schools.
Although the military claims the JROTC program is valuable to communities because it cuts down on drop-out rates, there is no statistical evidence to support the claim. Despite federal dollars to support the program, JROTC units entail substantial financial cost to schools.
The DOD spent $365 million on the program in 2013, providing uniforms, textbooks, and half of instructors' salaries. The funding also covers the cost of providing rifles for the JROTC Marksmanship Program.
Despite assurances by the Cadet Command regarding the voluntary nature of the JROTC program, 9th grade students are sometimes required to enroll in the military program. Quite often, schools allow JROTC to substitute for legitimate academic courses, providing a lifeline to JROTC programs that would otherwise have trouble maintaining minimum enrollment numbers.
Like other military programs operating in the nation’s high schools, JROTC is marketed as a public service to American communities without revealing its tie-in to recruiting or other controversial aspects of the program. The Army says JROTC “teaches students character education, student achievement, wellness, leadership, and diversity” while fostering in each school a “more constructive and disciplined learning environment.” From the perspective of the military mind, this may all be true, but in the civilian world, where there is greater emphasis on developing critical thinking skills, military notions of a more disciplined learning environment stifle creativity and smother individuality. Take, for instance, the unit on the U.S. Constitution in the Army’s sophomore-year textbook. It is called “You the People” rather than “We the People.” Obedience to the chain of command is valued above all. Questioning authority is not part of the curriculum.
Approximately 1,723 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine units offer rifle marksmanship programs to their cadets. JROTC programs often operate in schools that aggressively enforce “no gun” zones. Many of these schools have federal and state-supported programs that teach children ways to solve conflicts nonviolently. Providing rifle practice as an integral part of state-supported education is awful public policy.
JROTC is a non-academic elective that may put students at a disadvantage in applying for colleges and universities. Courses are often taught by retired soldiers with high school diplomas. JROTC is used as a substitute for rigorous physical education programs as well as academic subjects in many schools. For instance, Florida allows JROTC to substitute for physical science, biology, practical arts, and life management skills. Students at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Florida who take JROTC for two years satisfy both the physical education and fine arts requirements for graduation. If schools refused to allow students to substitute required academic courses for JROTC, the military program would be forced to shut down in many schools.
Although the military claims the JROTC program is valuable to communities because it cuts down on drop-out rates, there is no statistical evidence to support the claim. Despite federal dollars to support the program, JROTC units entail substantial financial cost to schools.
The DOD spent $365 million on the program in 2013, providing uniforms, textbooks, and half of instructors' salaries. The funding also covers the cost of providing rifles for the JROTC Marksmanship Program.