It likely surprises most people to find out that Lee County has the most Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets in the world. The world. With about 6,500 members at 17 area high schools, it’s the largest program on the planet. Chicago comes in second with about 5,000 cadets.
The other surprise may be that only about 17 percent of these students go on to join the military.
Established under the National Defense Act of 1916, JROTC teaches cadets through a blend of classroom instruction, hands-on leadership labs, physical fitness, community service, drill teams, academic bowls and orienteering.
For someone who isn’t familiar with JROTC, Major Dahiana Zamora, a South Fort Myers cadet who graduated this year and hopes to become an engine mechanic, has something to say.
"I would tell them that, first of all, we do not drag them to the military, because so many people do think that. No, I would say more like this is like a leadership program that boosts your confidence. It prepares you to be more confident, to be able to speak in front of big crowds, to not be scared, to step up as a leader, and to improve yourself constantly by receiving and by knowing how to receive and give feedback to others."
The main reason for the misconception, said Lee County’s Director of Army Instruction Rodney “Scott” Robinson, is that the program is based on an Army model.
Robinson, Zamora and other cadets were recently going through an accreditation program at South Fort Myers High School. They were giving presentations about their goals for JROTC and their goals in life that morning. Some had projected grade point averages in mind; others wanted to improve their time management; still others vowed to volunteer more.
Robinson explained what the program is really all about.
"So we're truly a character development program, to give kids the tools they need to be successful wherever they go in life — ethics and empathy and hard work and leadership skills, communications, decision making, problem solving, all of those skills that are going to make you successful wherever you go."
ON SOUTHWEST FLORIDA IN FOCUS
In fact, Robinson puts it simply.
"The mission of JROTC is to motivate young people to be better citizens.
"They do that through community service and service learning projects, based at their schools and in their communities." This year, cadets planned and held a track meet for middle and high school Special Olympics athletes.
"Most of the time they will work with an outside non-governmental organization to help support that need in the community. And we'll put a plan in place. It could be collecting materials. It could be helping Habitat for Humanity. It could be, as the kids did here, running a sporting event for disadvantaged kids."
Robinson said that the advantage of the Army model is that it makes room for leadership training.
"They'll start with a group of three, and of that three, one of them will be a section leader.
I combine those three kids with another three kids, and they become a squad, and I assign a squad leader. So now he's in charge of the seven of them. We provide those, combine those squads to make a platoon. And now I have a platoon leader and a platoon sergeant. I combine them into a company.
"And so it gives me a whole scaffold of leadership and teammanship, team membership opportunities, again, to develop those attributes that we want the young kids have to be good, valiant participants in their community."
Neifer Prival just finished her freshman year and hopes to become a pediatric nurse. She knew early on that she wanted to be in JROTC because of that leadership training.
"Honestly, when I first came here, I didn't know nothing about JROTC, but when I saw everybody in their uniforms and how much of a leader they are, that inspired me very much," Prival said. In a way, I would tell you this is a place where you grow a lot of personal courage, and you learn a lot from other people, and you are expected to be at the highest leadership.
"I have been a leader in my math class. Especially when the work is hard, I've shown other classmates, hey, this is another step that you could do to figure it out. Or sometimes when the teacher is busy and the teacher just explains stuff that they just don't get it, I just explain it to them in a simpler way, and they usually get it by the first time."
Sergeant First Class Zane Cruz hopes to be a commercial or private pilot. He just finished his sophomore year at South. He helps to plan and schedule JROTC events. He likes collaborating with others in JROTC.
"My favorite part is collaborating with a whole bunch of different people with different ideas and backgrounds and just working together," he said.
It’s all about teamwork and staying in step with others … in far more ways than just drills and marching.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
