The Army is bringing bigger events and new skills to JROTC

As the Army recalibrates recruitment effortsone long-term program can attract new recruits and educate the civilian public about the military: junior reserve officer training.

The Army Cadet Commandwhich oversees both JROTC and ROTC, has spent recent years promoting JROTC across the country through new technical skills training and various events.

These new skills, large public events and congressional pressure to expand the program in the coming years are measures aimed at modernizing JROTC and getting more of the population to support military recruiting while narrowing the civil-military gap.

One such event, the Raider Challenge, took place in late October. The challenge, held for the second time at Fort Knox, Kentucky, home of the Army Cadet Command, features a variety of fitness and leadership events such as a 5K run, a rope bridge assembly and a 3-mile buddy team obstacle course.

Over 4,000 cadets from all over the country came to the facility to take part in a number of competitions.

The annual event was previously held in Molena, Georgia, where Authorities said about 3,000 cadets took part in the final event.

The Fort Knox facility gives cadets a chance to see an actual military facility and meet soldiers in units currently serving, Ian Ives, spokesman for Army Cadet Command, told Army Times.

One cadet who spoke with Army Times recently participated in the Raider Challenge at both locations after participating in them for all four years of his high school career.

“I met people who didn’t understand the purpose. They think it’s more of a military thing,” said Cadet Maj. Jeremiah Purvis, a senior at Kansas’ Leavenworth High School. “It’s really about helping cadets be better leaders in the community.”

Purvis is the last of four brothers in his household to participate in JROTC. His father is an Army veteran and his oldest brother is an Army second lieutenant.

Founded in 1917, the Leavenworth program is one of the oldest JROTC programs in the country. This year, our school took top places in team competitions in both women’s and men’s categories.

Julie Howell, mother of Cadet 2nd Lt. Elisabeth Howell, participated in JROTC when she was in high school. Program at that time it did not have more modern classes and clubs in the field of technical skills today’s JROTC programs.

These types of activities and clubs help attract students who might not have considered JROTC and allow them to learn more about the program from other cadets, Howell said.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity for these kids to become who they are,” Howell said.

Flashy advertisements, posters or social media campaigns may be just what it takes to attract the attention of potential young recruits the Army wants to reach out, but for JROTC another cadet would be best.

Cadet Kaitlyn Spaulding, a freshman at Leavenworth, met Elisabeth Howell at the local swimming pool and learned that Howell was on the school’s national championship JROTC team.

That inspired her to try JROTC, she told Army Times.

“I remember seeing their uniforms and thinking, ‘I want to wear uniforms like that, too,’” Spaulding said. “I want to take part in the program.”

She set herself the goal of attending the United States Military Academy at West Point.

In fiscal year 2021 defense budget, Congress has called for doubling the number of JROTC locations in the military by 2031.

Military representatives, experts and some research showed that the presence of a JROTC program in a school improves civil-military cooperation, can influence students from that school to join the military, resulting in higher graduation rates and more effective enlistment of those who enlist after high school.

Ives told Army Times that Army JROTC currently operates 1,744 programs with approximately 280,000 cadets. This is an increase from a decade ago, when there were 1,709 programs involving 246,500 cadets.

Doubling the number of programs over the next six years would bring the number for the Army alone to 3,488.

Significant growth in the number of military JROTC programs is not unprecedented, although growth has historically occurred over the long term. The Army tripled its JROTC programs between 1992 and 2022, according to a RAND report released in September.

The army ordered the report to be studied expanding the geographic reach of Army JROTC programs across the country.

Researchers found that military programs were overrepresented in the Southeast region of the United States and underrepresented in the Northwest, Midwest, and rural areas in all regions.

Overall, approximately 6% of public high schools had a military JROTC program. According to the survey data, the percentage ranged from 12% of high schools in the South to 3% of high schools in the Northeast and West and just 2% of high schools in the Midwest. report.

RAND staff conducted a simulation in which they replaced 60 of the worst-performing military JROTC schools with 60 innovative programs in underserved areas. They found no significant changes in participation.

However, if the Army adds another 1,000 JROTC programs, there will be a noticeable increase in geographic diversity, according to the service’s data. report.

The report’s authors recommended that the Army continue to emphasize its innovative JROTC programs, such as Cyber ​​program. In recent years, Army Cadet Command has expanded its number of clubs and technology offerings, including cybersecurity, drones and 3D printing, Ives said.

The RAND report identifies the outlook by state and prioritized cities and regions, in order based on their sustainability. Federal law governing JROTC programs defines a program as sustainable if it has at least 100 participants or at least 10% of the student body.