COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: JROTC/ROTC
Straight and narrow
Kristen Chick, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 26, 2007 Sunday
Sean
McKinney of Gaithersburg knew he wanted to join the military when he
was about 6, playing with G.I. Joe action figures and dreaming of the
day he could wear a uniform.
Nine years later, Sean dreams of becoming an Army Ranger or Delta Force
soldier, and says he is not afraid of going to war. His father is a
police major, and his family has a long history of military service
that he aims to continue.
"I have this feeling inside: This is the career; this is what I want to
do with my life," he says. "Something bigger than myself."
But at 15, he is too young to enlist in the military. So enrolling in
the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program at Col.
Zadok Magruder High School in Rockville was a natural choice - and the
first step toward his ultimate goal.
In JROTC, he gains academic credit for participating in courses
designed to teach leadership and good citizenship in a military
setting, in which older cadets are responsible for the younger ones.
"I almost immediately fell in love with JROTC," Sean said between
classes at Magruder in April, with a row of medals across the chest of
his green outfit that looks almost identical to an Army dress uniform.
"I was never a big athletic person, then I found this and this was my
thing."
Not all students enroll in JROTC because they want to join the
military. Some at Magruder say their parents want them to experience
the discipline of a military environment, and others simply enjoy the
camaraderie.
Still, Magruder parents and students alike say the program gives those
who participate the opportunity to develop responsibility and
discipline under the watchful eye of two dedicated instructors.
The instructors are retired military officers and noncommissioned
officers paid by the school systems. The Army, Navy, Air Force and
Marine Corps sponsor programs.
There are 1,645 Army JROTC programs in the U.S., but Magruder has the only Army program in Montgomery County.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Leonard J. Whiteside has run the program since its inception 23 years ago. His job is a "labor of love."
"To know that I'm touching the character of these kids, from all different spectrums, that is fantastic," he says.
He is assisted by retired Army Sgt. Maj. John A. Ohmer, and both say
helping students make the right life choices is what motivates and
rewards them.
The colonel, who at 66 has a shock of white hair and bright blue eyes, used to teach at Temple University in Philadelphia.
He decided to teach JROTC at Magruder to reach those who might be heading down the wrong path in life.
"I said I would love to get down to the high school level and help point them in the right direction," Col. Whiteside says.
The students at Magruder certainly need guidance, he says. The
instructors sometimes have their hands full keeping students on the
right track.
One cadet came to Magruder after having lived on the streets of
Baltimore ever since his mother was put in jail, said Sgt. Maj. Ohmer.
He came to live with his aunt in Montgomery County, enrolled at
Magruder and joined the program.
"His aunt said our program was one of the best things to happen to that
kid," said Sgt. Maj. Ohmer, 61, a 27-year Army veteran with a closely
trimmed salt-and-pepper mustache. "His grades went up and he's doing
well. That's the reward I get."
Both instructors say there are more stories like that. Sometimes they
get e-mails or letters from cadets who graduated years ago, thanking
them for their direction.
"It's probably one of the most rewarding things I've ever done," Sgt.
Maj. Ohmer says of his 17 years teaching JROTC students at Magruder.
"You can't put a price tag on it, to see these kids come to us with
their problems."
Sean says he has watched the instructors take on roles that go beyond that of instructor.
"Certain members of our program don't have the best family background,"
he says. "For one of my friends, to this day, the sergeant major and
the colonel are like the only parents he has."
JROTC began with the National Defense Act of 1916 as a way to prepare the next generation of military officers.
Now, according to official policy, the goal of the program is to
encourage leadership and good citizenship, not to recruit high school
students into the military. JROTC instructors are prohibited from
training the cadets in combat tactics.
Critics say the rhetoric doesn't match the reality, and many oppose JROTC in public schools.
"It's about recruiting," says Pat Elder, a Montgomery County resident
and antiwar activist who is a member of the coordinating committee for
the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth. "It's a
recruiting program first and foremost."
Mr. Elder cites a 1999 Army memo that states the Army does not prohibit
instructors from "facilitating" the recruitment of students, especially
by working with local recruiters to give them access to cadets.
Critics also are concerned that schools do not have oversight of the
JROTC curriculum, which includes discussions of military history. They
said the programs, some of which have rifle teams, militarize schools
and run counter to schools' attempts to encourage students to solve
disputes nonviolently.
"I recognize that the military is and can be a great career for some
people," says Mr. Elder, who teaches at Beddow High School, a private
school in Accokeek. "But I shouldn't have to pay for this program in my
public schools, and I'm sharing the cost of the JROTC instructors
against my wishes. I think it represents an unhealthy militarization of
society."
At a Montgomery County Board of Education meeting this spring, Mr.
Elder and a group of parents protested JROTC programs and school policy
on military recruiters.
Supporters of the program say Col. Whiteside and Sgt. Maj. Ohmer do not
pressure students to join the military. They say the men stress
education and have talked several cadets out of enlisting right out of
high school, persuading them to go to college instead.
Sean, a confident teenager with a military haircut, says he wanted to
enlist after graduation, though his parents insisted he first go to
college. He says his instructors were influential in convincing him
that enlisting without a college education was not his best option.
"I would like to go in as enlisted and work my way up, but the colonel
and the sergeant major strongly oppose that," he says, adding that they
have encouraged him to go to college. "They tell you Day One in ROTC,
'Look, this program doesn't mean you have to join the military. I'm not
here to recruit you.' "
Sean's parents agree.
"I have never felt that they encouraged or tried to get my son to go into the military," said his mother, Donna McKinney, 46.
She and her husband, Mike, 50, said they are grateful that Sean's
instructors have reinforced their message of first going to college.
Mrs. McKinney also said that, at a school event where parents had the
opportunity to question the JROTC instructors, many parents asked
whether the program was used to recruit students.
Both instructors said that is not their goal.
Sgt. Maj. Ohmer says he knows how recruiters operate and he warns his students to be wary of them.
"I say, 'Do me a favor. Before you enlist, come back and talk to me
before you sign anything.' I just want them to get the story straight."
Some cadets join the military. The instructors are proud that some
program graduates have gone on to attend West Point and other military
academies, and many of their graduates receive ROTC scholarships at
other universities.
Two former Magruder cadets were killed in combat last year, one in Iraq
and the other in Afghanistan. Sgt. Maj. Ohmer, a Vietnam War veteran,
said that was hard to bear.
"That hurt so badly because you helped these kids, and all of a sudden
they're soldiers and they go off and become casualties," he said. "It's
the feeling that 'Did I fail somewhere down the line?' "
Both instructors have master's degrees and are certified to teach in
Maryland, though JROTC instructors are required to have only a high
school equivalency.
Mr. Elder says instructors should have the same qualifications as other Maryland high school teachers.
Col. Whiteside acknowledges that, at many schools, the senior Army
instructor for JROTC is a noncommissioned officer who does not have a
college education.
Magruder is the exception, he says.
Next year, the Army will begin requiring all instructors to have at least an associate degree.
At the recent summer leadership camp at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia,
Magruder cadets were thrilled to join other Maryland and D.C. high
school students in activities, which included navigating an obstacle
course, rappelling down a 40-foot-tall tower and learning how to
fashion a life vest from their trousers.
It was a taste of what basic training might be like.
"You learn to be disciplined real quick, or you learn to do a lot of
push-ups," Sean said while walking to the base's general store during a
break from activities.
He acknowledged with a grin that he had done quite a few push-ups since
arriving at camp. The weeklong camp, in June, was organized by Army
JROTC instructors from the schools that attended.
"There's a lot of running, a lot of push-ups, but it's worth it," Sean said.
Only 15 cadets from Magruder got the opportunity to go to camp, most of
them potential leaders for the next two years of the program. Part of
JROTC's leadership development component is the military-style chain of
command.
As older JROTC cadets rise in rank, their responsibilities include
inspecting the younger cadets' uniforms and helping teach class. It
provides a lesson in leadership, the instructors say.
Sean said he could be leading up to 30 cadets next year.
Charles Mutambuze, a 15-year-old junior at Magruder, said he enrolled
in JROTC just to complete an elective requirement, then ended up
enjoying the program and staying.
Now Charles could be tapped for a leadership position.
"I thought it would help me get motivated, and actually it did," he said.
He said the program also gives many cadets a close-knit group of
friends. After a change-of-command ceremony at the end of the school
year in May, a mob of remaining students embraced those who were
graduating in a spontaneous group hug.
Col. Whiteside plans to retire in 2009, and Sgt. Maj. Ohmer will retire in 2010.
The men spend every summer with the cadets at the leadership camp,
which falls on Father's Day each year. Sgt. Maj. Ohmer says his
daughters tease him that he loves his cadets more than his children.
But both men say all those years are worth it.
"I would like to think the sergeant major and I wrap our arms around
the kids and help them with their problems," says Col. Whiteside. "And
that's the reward. It's not about the money."
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