June-July 2005

Editorial material in Peacework is published under a Creative Commons
Attribution-
NonCommercial-
ShareAlike License unless copyright is otherwise specified.

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Air Force Plans To Invade: 48 High Schools Set to Start AF JROTC

Based on research by Peacework intern Jamie Munro and materials on JROTC from the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors and the American Friends Service Committee Youth and Militarism Program. Compiled by Sam Diener.

The Air Force currently has 746 high school Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) units militarizing 106,000 students across the country. In the fall of 2005, the Air Force plans to open 48 more units.

Peacework Magazine has obtained the list of these schools (please see the list on-line or call the numbers listed below for the list). The AF JROTC Cadet Command plans to open an additional 75 units each year through the fall of 2007, which would bring the total number of invaded schools to 945.

In the 1990s, during a previous round of JROTC expansion, activists worked to expose the realities of the JROTC program to community members and school officials. Because of community opposition, JROTC never opened in approximately 30 schools which had been on the military's target list.

Most communities which decided to reject planned units did so after learning that:

• each unit costs school districts at least $50,000, with an average cost of more than $76,000. Why should the public schools be subsidizing the military? (Please see Trading Books for Soldiers: The True Cost of JROTC, Peacework, October 2004, <www.afsc.org/pwork/0410/041021.htm>);
• JROTC discriminates. JROTC instructors must meet current active military duty standards. Therefore, they can not be openly gay, bisexual, or lesbian. Honorably discharged disabled veterans are also ineligible. The latter stricture violates every school district's employment non-discrimination policy and most teacher's union contracts. Also, according to a fact sheet distributed by AF JROTC Cadet Command in March, 2005, a student is only eligible for AF JROTC if they are "physically fit and citizens of the United States." Thus, the program discriminates against students on the basis of disability and citizenship;
• a school district has no control over the JROTC curriculum, which is dictated by the national JROTC cadet command;
• JROTC curricula are inherently biased. A militaristic tone is consistent throughout. The textbooks imply that immigrants and national minorities have to prove their American-ness through participation in US wars. The Air Force JROTC textbooks imply that it is air power that wins US wars; the Navy implies that it's sea power, etc.;
• there is no evidence to support the military's claim that JROTC prevents students from dropping out of school;
• the JROTC program makes a mockery of schools' weapon-free zones policies by bringing guns (especially in Army JROTC) and mock-guns into the schools;
• there are numerous cases of JROTC-connected violence, including murders, gang-activities, and violent hazing;
• the military's vaunted leadership skill training focuses instead on following orders;
• JROTC is more of a recruiting program than a leadership program. When testifying to Congress about JROTC on February 9, 2000, then Secretary of Defense William Cohen gushed, it's "one of the best recruiting devices that we could have."
• there are serious drawbacks, attested to by Veterans for Peace especially, of militarizing young minds

Future protests might also raise questions about the appropriateness of high schools preparing military personnel for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Chicago Tribune article (December 17, 2004), reported that two graduates of the AF JROTC program at Brentwood High School who joined the military were recently killed. The Long Island, NY school is in a working class community where 62% of students live below the federal poverty line, more than 65% are Latino, and 23% are African-American. According to the Tribune, Principal Thomas O'Brien is now reconsidering the JROTC program at Brentwood. He reflected, "Certainly what's happened here gives you pause for thought: Are you placing your kids at risk?"

Some communities might not have had any public discussion of the impending school invasions. In the past, activists in communities threatened by imminent JROTC units have raised a red flag with community organizations, gay rights groups, disability rights groups, peace groups, student councils, parent-teacher organizations, teachers' unions, and school boards in order to delay or stop the military training programs. Some activists have stressed the importance of delaying the start of such a controversial program for at least a year until the community can thoroughly investigate and discuss the pros and cons of JROTC.

Peacework has also learned that the Navy plans to open one new JROTC unit in the fall of 2005, and has 207 schools on their target list. Peacework Magazine has requested but as of press time has not yet received similar lists from the Army and Marines.

For additional alternative information about JROTC, including fact sheets, analyses, case histories, and activist assistance, please contact the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, 800/NO-JROTC, <www.objector.org/jrotc/why.html>; the American Friends Service Committee Youth and Militarism Program, 215/241-7046, <www.afsc.org/youthmil/militarism-in-schools/JROTC.htm>; and Project Project YANO (Youth and Non-Military Opportunities), 760/634-3604). The website of YANO's sister organization, the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft, <www.comdsd.org/alerts_archive/jrotc_expansion_alerts.htm> features a single page document summarizing points for JROTC opponents to make at school board meetings.

Previous Article    Next Article