My boy is picking electives for his freshman year and wants to join the JROTC. We're all for it and figure whether he joins the military or not it will be good for him. Anybody else have kids go through the program?

A great way to get an early look at the program and work ones way through a college degree. The cost is a bit of time though. If a kid has those leanings, I'd certainly encourage them. Wish my son would go that route.

I’ve worked directly with and helped out with several schools. It’s good for most kids IMO. It’s not just for kids maybe leaning towards serving.
It’s also good for kids that may not fit in other groups (sports, band...).
The program will be as good as the leaders there make it. If you have time, volunteer to help out. Most programs always need other men/women to help out.

Forgot to mention it opens a few doors for kids. IF they do enlist after graduation, they join at a higher pay grade depending on years of JROTC completed.
Also, several scholarships are available if entering college.

I was Instructor for a JROTCl right after I retired for few years........Decent program, I'm sure things have changed.The actual classroom work was kinda boring, emphasis on Leadership and Citizenship....the extracurricular teams was where we got the kids attention Our area(South Florida) was big into Drill team, cause you know a rifle team is scary. Not thinking your gonna have a whole bunch of drill competitions up there though. Raider Challenge was another. We were actually prohibited from doing "Military" training. But everything we did was military centric, to include organization.This was late 90's

Joe

His class had a presentation from someone yesterday and he really liked the sound of it. He really perked up when they mentioned a summer camp on base and getting to ride in a Blackhawk! Haha! I don't think there's a real downside to it. He's not going to be playing a team sport next year but is trying out for wrestling. It's good to keep him busy I think.

If he does the full 4 yrs in high school he can enter the army as a e3 pfc at day 1.

If he is squared away he might have a chance at a Rotc scholarship
Do 4 yrs college on unca suga,s nickel, get a monthly stipend and commision as a 2lt.

Dont believe anything I say.
Never was an army recruiter who did 3 yrs in that purgatory.
Never was the SMI MS 3 instructor in a macarthur award college Rotc program last 2 outta the 3 yrs I was their.
Didnt have 2 daughters who went thru ROTC on a full boat ride, collected that stipend and every grant and scholarship they could from their departments and stuff dad being one of unca suga,s broken old useless toys qualified them to be able to apply for.


Just be prepared to tell Jr when the alligator tears start flowing that those grants and scholarships are taxed.
Caused those student advisors dont tell em that schit.
The stats look good when more students accept them.


Hey you got 18k in grants and scholarships this year.
So you owe unca suga 4 k of it and you get to keep 14k
All for being a high gpa student on a full boat ride anyways.


Suck it up butter cup....


JrRotc is a fun program for some.
For some they take 1 semster and dont do it again.

Tell him to join up in it and find out for himself


Just tell him if he joins the Infantry in the army emlisted route.
Dont put all your Russian general jrRotc ribbons on display in your barracks room at your 1st duty station.
His sqd leader and fire team will have a great time ad libbing with that for sure.
And then the PSG ,1SG, His LT, ect ect ect ect talking to Audie Murphy about his ribbons also.

LOL!!!

Where do I sign up for spending 4k to get 18k? LOL! Thanks for the info Ren, I appreciate it! We'll see how he likes it and how he does. Like I said, there's gotta be worse things he could get involved in at high school! My buddy went through the ROTC program when we were at UMO. We spent ALOT of time out on the Stud Mill Rd. I know you know where that is!

Both daughters graduated and commision with 25 to 35 k in their bank accounts
Never cost em a dime for their degrees.
Rotc gave em like 1100 for all their books each year.

They made out like bandits man.
Lived at home 100% free also.

Frigging nuggs....
Proud of em though, so it was worth it.




Yep......
Remember when they was developing the stud mill/ st regeis road in 77 - 79 time frame
Opened up alot of places to get at for fishiing and hunting.
T34md and T32md I know well.


Buzz tours, keg parties ect ect ect

Lol!!!

Pickerel pond was the big bonfire/keg party spot when I was there. Lots of good times! Good on your daughters for working hard. I hope my boys stay focused like that!

In 30+ years I have never seen JROTC hurt a kid's chances, seen it help a bunch.

Concur with the observation AFAIK that the classroom content is sorta basic and boring, I think far more interesting to everyone involved are the drill, rocketry, and orienteering teams.

That's definitely the kinda stuff he'd be interested in. He loves military history, so hopefully he'll get plenty of that. He's pretty outgoing and no doubt enjoy the out of classroom activities. Shoot, he's headed to Costa Rica next week as he got selected to go on a trip to work with turtles and projects in the jungle.

I was a coach/ sponsor/ chaperone for the AFJROTC drill team at a big high school in Nashville for several years. I saw that program turn a bunch of kids around who were on the borderline of serious trouble- - - -behavior problems, drugs, alcohol, gang activity, etc. Try getting 2,000 or so teenagers together from all over the country for a whole weekend, put them in a big municipal sports arena for 12+ hours, give every one of them what amounts to a 10 pound club, and do it all without any law enforcement whatsoever present. Now, compare that to keeping a simple football or basketball game from turning into a riot for maybe 3 hours, with a couple of dozen cops riding herd!

I firmly believe the citizenship and personal integrity training those kids received had a lot to do with the lack of disciplinary problems at those drill meets! Now, riding herd on a coed drill team with raging hoirmones in a motel 400 miles from home for an entire weekend- - - - -that's the stuff of a chaperone's nightmares!
Jerry

I'm in a Air National Guard unit. We have Air Force JROTC kids out here all the time taking incentive flights. The love it. I'd encourage anyone to go the Air Force route.

Pickerel Pond.

BTDT.....
Many many times.
I left Maine in 83.

Lol!!!

Don’t worry we won’t; we’re going with whatever Rick recommends.

My grandson is a sophmore and he is on the JROTC competition drill team. Takes a lot of time.

What branch?
JROTC gave me a great start in my life. The field trips alone gave me an idea of what life was like. It's the sole reason I joined the Air Force. I'd love to tell ya I joined the AF to serve my country, but the truth is that I took the class in highschool and learned that there was a AF base in ID, MT, WY, UT, CO, NV, AZ, and NM and figured those states all have elk and it would be a great way to move out of dumpsville USA and hunt.
I learned of these locations and opportunities via my highschool JROTC class.

His school only has the Army JROTC. I figure regardless of the branch, at this level, it should be good for him. I'm glad he brought it up himself and wants to do it.

If he sticks with it there is virtually no limit to the doors of opportunity it opens.

My nephew graduated from a TOP TIER school on a full ride scholarship because of it. Cost savings was more than $200,000 easily. He had to work hard and study and keep his nose to the grindstone. But he has a very specialized degree in high demand and after he completes his service obligation in the near future if he decides to get out according to BLS - Bureau of Labor Statistics - data based on his job experience and expertise he will make a salary of approximately $150,000 per year. Not too shabby a return on investment for getting involved in JROTC in my opinion.