Do you think JROTC is a waste of time or can it really help for a future in the military?
September 6th, 2010 by eranio
Last year one of my teachers (used to be in the military) knew I was going to join JROTC in high school and said it was a bunch of teenagers playing soldier, and that they should learn to shoot a rifle instead of spinning it. I don’t have any plans to join the military but do you think JROTC can help for a future in the military?
Posted in Military Rifles
September 6th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Absolutely. Like anything else you will get out of it what you put into it. The military offers additional entry rank for JROTC for a reason. Because the kids who complete the prerequisites know many of the basics of soldiering such as marching, ranks, customs and courtesies, time, phonetic alphabet, basic leadership, etc. Some programs are better than others.
I spent 4 years as a Cadet in the Civil Air Patrol as a kid. I entered the Army at 17 as a PFC/E-3 because of it. Really the only thing I learned at basic training was rifle marksmanship. I made Sergeant/E-5 at 28 months in the Army and Staff Sergeant/E-6 at 4 1/2 years. I attribute success in large measure to the start I received in CAP.
September 6th, 2010 at 9:08 am
abslolutly not!!! unless your going to be an officer
September 6th, 2010 at 9:08 am
It depends heavily on your school’s program. Mine sucked, a lot. We didn’t take anything seriously and we learned practically nothing. I definitely benefited more from Boy Scouts than JROTC. That’s just my experience with my school, though.
September 6th, 2010 at 9:08 am
It really varies from program to program. In a mediocre program you leave with nothing but a few credits and a sense that you just wasted X years.
However in a good one they teach you a bunch of knowledge and you have some leadership experience (which is why you get an early promotion as an NCO. While it isn’t going to help you in the sense of military training, it does give you experience in being a leader and dealing with people. Not to mention that you get to know lots of background info about the service.