COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: General
JROTC Cadets Dive Into Week-Long Training, but Not All Determined to
Serve
Ian Shapira, WashingtonPost
June 25, 2005
FORT A.P. HILL, Va. Taking your pants off, JROTC students learned thisweek, is the most practical, if not most intrepid, way to survive in
the
water without a life jacket. Just tie up the pant legs, hook them
around
your head, choke the waist so the legs fill with air, and float.
The survival course triggered a mix of laughter and nervousness from
the
high school students visiting the military base in Caroline County. But
for many Army JROTC students enrolled in the annual "Camp Success," the
lessons learned this week will never be put to use in the armed forces.
Despite their involvement in the officers training program, many say
the
war in Iraq and other world dangers will keep them out of the military.
Just as military recruiting is down across the country, the excitement
for a career in the services is waning even among JROTC cadets. The
number of students participating in JROTC programs across the country
has soared by more than 80 percent, from nearly 270,000 in 1994 to more
than 501,000 in 2004, according to the Defense Department. But a recent
study of Army JROTC students, which military officials consider to be
true for all services, shows that about 30 percent of JROTC cadets say
they intend to join the military.
"I just thought the uniforms were nice and JROTC would look better on
my
[college] application," said Minh Tran, 14, who will be a sophomore at
Fairfax County's Thomas Edison High School in the fall. "But it's
really
fun. You get to shoot at the end of the year and learn survival
[techniques] and first aid. One kid in my French class asked me, 'When
are they sending you to Iraq?,' and I just kind of laughed it off. I
want to go into the pharmaceutical business. I don't like blood. I'm
more of a book kind of person."
That sentiment was echoed by several students at Camp Success, a
voluntary week-long program for Washington area students in which they
live on the base's barracks and participate in several training
workshops, including navigation and rappelling. JROTC -- Junior Reserve
Officers Training Corps -- is offered as an elective at hundreds of
high
schools nationwide, with a curriculum focused on military history, the
Constitution and leadership training.
At Camp Success, where cadets wake up before dawn for long runs and do
several push-ups throughout the day, students said they routinely
consider the perils confronting U.S. soldiers abroad. On a recent day
in
the base's mess hall, over chicken and pizza, a group of students
talked
about those thoughts creeping into their minds as they undergo the
camp's physical tests.
"When you're going through the obstacle course, the first thing you
think about is basic training," said James Crowder, 17, of the
District,
who attends Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va. "When I
tripped on a wire, I thought, 'If that was real, I'd be dead.' "
Larry Howe, 15, of Loudoun County, who is leaving Massanutten to attend
Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, nodded in agreement: "They don't
get a second chance."
"You have to worry about the small things," said George Oley, 14, who
attends Benedictine High School in Richmond and wants to attend medical
school or become a dentist.
Other students acknowledge the headlines about dead soldiers coming
home
from battle but want to sign up, believing it is their duty.
Matt Benson, 16, a junior at Woodbridge High School in Prince William
County, said he wants to become a Marine, no question about it: "My
father was a Marine. They're an elite fighting force, and I want to
work
with the best."
Standing inside his barracks, Michael Ssenyonga, 18, also a student at
Woodbridge High School, said the war does not scare him because he was
raised amid violence in Uganda before immigrating to the United States.
"Back in Africa, there used to be warlords, and I saw that growing up,
so I got used to that," Ssenyonga said. "I want to put in a good 24
years. I want to be a politician, and I figure you need to show you can
serve your country."
Students at Camp Success, now in its 16th year, said they enjoy their
JROTC courses. The instructors, retired from the military, serve as
both
coach and confidant, keeping on the students for their grades and
listening to their personal problems.
"That's a unique thing with the JROTC. We become their surrogate
parents," said Franklyn Matthews, a retired Army colonel who oversees
the program at Woodbridge High School. "They tend to depend on us.
They'll discuss things with us that they wouldn't with their parents.
One kid confided in me that she thought a parent was an alcoholic, and
others have told me about abuse going on or whether they're pregnant."
At Camp Success, the JROTC students can usually be seen in their BDUs
--
camouflage battle dress uniforms -- marching in formation, polishing
their combat boots with toothbrushes or competing in various missions.
One course requires a cadet to lead a squad out of a "prisoner of war"
camp with limited time and supplies. In another session, students rode
in a Blackhawk helicopter.
In the marksmanship course, cadets practice their aim with a rifle,
albeit a Daisy armed with pellets.
Still, on a recent day, instructor Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Willie gave
Aaron Westerfield, 15, of Waldorf, a tough time.
"Squeeze -- there you go. You're still shooting to the right," Willie
said to the high school junior, ordering him to aim left. "Are you
going
to do that?"
"Yeah," Westerfield said quietly, taking aim.
"Yes, /Sergeant/ ," Willie barked back. "Isn't that what you meant to
say?
My reply in a letter to the editor of the Washington Post:
Your recent item by Ian Shapirra ("Rethinking the Call of Battle, June
27) about JROTC in the DC and Maryland schools gives several false
impressions. He gives the impression that the number of students
enrolled nationally in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
programs has "soared" to almost double from 1994-2004 because of
increased interest. In fact, it was Colin Powell who insisted,
following
the riots in Watts in Los Angeles, on an increase in the number of
JROTC
units nationwide being doubled, especially in communities of color. The
name JROTC is a misnomer since it has nothing to do with creating
military officers, and only about 2% of those enrolled ever make that
status, especially if they are non-white. The program also has no
relation to getting a college level ROTC scholarship. However, the
figure of 30% of Army JROTC cadets intending to join is not equivalent
to the current recruitment shortfall coming primarily from Black
communities, but reflects the true purpose of the programs, since it is
far higher than the percentage who on the average will enlist from the
whole community. JROTC is also a costly program in the cash-strapped DC
school system, where the elements necessary for teaching
core-curriculum
are underfunded. The most expensive curricular or extra-curricular
activity based on those enrolled, JROTC is jointly financed by the
federal government and the schools system, at the cost of over $2
million a year. Every high school has a program, and your article makes
it seem that is it entirely voluntary, but it is not. In fact, a recent
survey by a New Yorker magazine reporter unearthed the reality, that at
least 6 DC high schools put JROTC on the freshman class schedule for
all
students, making it effectively mandatory, and bloating it's enrollment
sufficiently to insure the federal funding for the programs. In the
past, 15% of students enrolled and 95% of the participants dropped out
by senior year, most after their first year. One school official told
us
a student could be relieved of the requirement if they were a member of
a "peace church", a standard for discharge from the regular military
that has not been used since WWI. The JROTC text books teach a
distorted
view of civics, history and even biology and psychology, illustrating
"human motivation" as slaves under a Roman centurian's whip in one
graphic, and suggesting that differences in the left and right portions
of the brain can be marked along racial lines. Students who face zero
tolerance for weapons and metal detectors at the entrance door can
train
with rifles in the JROTC "armories" inside the school. The DC schools
should stop paying for military recruitment in the schools and a
constant military presence and replace it with free programs like
Habitat for Humanity, which teaches discipline and teamwork, imparts
useful skills, and serves a direct community purpose. And the privacy
of
student contact information should be fully protected from military
recruiters under the No Child Left Behind Act, which allows students
and
parents to opt-out, if the DC schools inform them it is a choice.
Currently, over 95% of all enlistments are from the Delayed Entry
Program, which tries to get a commitment to enlist upon graduation from
students before they know their job and college options, and often the
recruiters harass and threaten them if they change their mind when they
realize they have a better one. War is not a game, and students in high
school should not be forced to make adult decisions before they are
ready, and without complete information about what they will be getting
into.
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