Junior ROTC 'more than a class' to teens
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Before enrolling in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Asheville High School, William Michaels says he struggled to keep his anger under control.
Now, the high school senior says, he doesn't get in trouble much anymore, thanks to leadership skills shaped by Junior ROTC. He spends much of the school day — plus hours after school, some weekends and part of summer vacation — in the building where program students work out, hit the books and shoot air rifles.
"It's more than a class. It's like a giant support group," says Michaels, 17.
An increasing number of teenagers are getting early exposure to military life through their high schools. Enrollment jumped 5% this year to 513,297 students in Junior ROTC programs, according to combined Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force statistics. That far outpaced the program's growth from 2005 to 2008, those statistics show.
The growth is driven in part by the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, which directed the Pentagon to add high schools to the program. The goal was to have 3,700 programs by 2020. There are about 3,400, according to combined military statistics.
Students may soon be able to get involved even younger. A program modeled on the Army's Junior ROTC program is