Matt Damon's speech to teachers

[dekeguy]

[QUOTE=UGAalum94;2077129]While I pretty much agree with you and would add developing leadership skills and earning a relatively steady elective academic credit to your list, I have a friend who is a pretty extreme anti-war leftist who really hates that JROTC programs are concentrated in high poverty areas. He feels like we're basically saying that poor and minority kids should be recruited to be cannon fodder.[QUOTE]
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Actually, expanding the JROTC program to include high poverty areas opens new opportunities to kids who just a few years ago would not have a chance to participate in JROTC. There used to be a two tiered cadet training scheme in which JROTC targeted private prep schools and "top drawer" public schools while schools serving poor and minority neighborhoods were targeted for the NDCC or National Defense Cadet Corps. There were a lot of mealey mouthed explanations regarding the 'why' of this two tiered system but the bottom line was that schools whose demographic makeup was likely to produce commissioned officer material got JROTC. Schools more likely to produce enlisted personnel got NDCC programs.
JROTC in inner city schools, in my view, offers a more equitable and balanced approach than the previous one that was heavily weighted towards keeping student pools seperate and not equal.
The existance of a Corps of Cadets in any school provides a structure which develops discipline, leadership skills, some valuable basic life skills, and a sense of belonging to something which adhears to a set of values and instills pride in its members. The military is not looking for cannon fodder. Rather, it is looking for soldiers and leaders. That is as true now as in peace time or any time so long as we have a military.
As Plato remarked so many centuries ago, "only the dead have seen the end of war". So, it seems reasonable to give kids a sense of what they MIGHT have to deal with and a chance to get through it in one piece. The very basic level training received in JROTC can't hurt and surely can help in the challenges we all must face in dealing with life.
Now, the reality of JROTC is that it encourages college attendance which presupposes that four more years of education and its attendant maturity will better equip students for jobs and careers, and IF these students want to serve in the military they will be far more valuable as trained and educated leaders rather than the "cannon fodder" mentioned earlier. JROTC is neither designed nor structured to entice kids into 'signing up'. On the contrary, it seeks to shape and mold kids into solid types who are more likely to finish education and accept the realities of the world as it is and excell in it and not wallow the world of childish fantasy, rejection of structure and discipline, and expect to by some miracle become the beneficiaries of hopelessly unrealistic expectations.
Its a win-win proposition for kids in less than ideal circumstances as they are encouraged to stay in full time education, have the edge on being selected for Senior ROTC scholarships and Academy Appointments which provide subsidized education and a pay stipend at college level, and are offered an opportunity to serve in an honorable profession in a position of trust, responsibility, and authority. This obviously translates rather well to one's resume when looking to score an entry into a good job/career after service in the military.
My experiences in JROTC in the USA, Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in the UK, and Sr. ROTC at University were exceptionally valuable to me and I picked up some skills and basic savvy that I credit with being largely instrumental in my outfit getting back from Iraq with no one KIA. It has definitely helped me in dealing with the sometimes demanding aspects of my profession.

dekeguy
Captain(P), USAR