My school does not have a JROTC program but I have always been very interested in the military so JROTC has always interested me but I couldn't do it. An opportunity to do JROTC at another school for my junior year has come up so I am debating if it would be worth my time to do it for the last two years of high school (mainly for advancing and earning leadership positions) and if it would be too big of a time commitment as I do two sports and am extremely committed to my academics. What are yall's thoughts on that. Thanks for any advice.
Should I do JROTC?
- Thread starter BEN2024
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USAFA 2027
FFS MMI '23 USAFA '27
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I could be wrong but my understanding is: if this is a JROTC unit with honor/distinction, that mean they can give you a nomination to a service academy, which means not only does it increase your chances of getting a nomination, but also a nomination from your unit means you are competing with fewer applicants compared to a MOC, meaning more likely to be appointed. There are a few catches to this so ask the person in charge to see if this unit has the authority to nominate to your desired academy.
NJROTC-CC
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My son is in his senior year and has been doing NJROTC for all four years. His unit has over 200 cadets and is consistently one of the top NJROTC units in the country. In our unit, it would be unlikely that someone starting as a junior would be able to earn any significant leadership billet. The leaders come from cadets who have been doing it since freshman year and stay after school literally every day all year long and participate in multiple NJROTC competition teams in Academics, Drill, Athletic, color guard and orienteering. To gain a leadership position at his school they want the cadet to devote a tremendous amount of time to the program. I don't know what the unit is like at the high school you are considering, but I fear it would be too big of time commitment given your commitment to sports and academics, not to mention the issue of transportation to the other school. When my son was doing Cross-Country, it created major conflicts. The NJROTC unit wanted ALL his time and commitment. He got a lot out of it, but I am not sure he got out as much as he put in. They really took up ALL his time. That's just my two cents.
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I agree with @NJROTC-CC, a lot will depend on the unit. My DD did a lot of activities outside JROTC, but the unit was always careful to schedule a lot of the JROTC stuff during zero hour before school. They want to encourage doing more than just military participation, so they work around band and sports and choir and such as much as possible. She captained two sports team, played in the band, did crew for the theater dept and a bunch of other stuff while doing reg drill, aviation club and being the brigade XO of a pretty large honor unit with distinction. If your unit wants to claim all your time they can, but if the emphasis is different a lot can be possible.
Call ahead and ask about the schedule and how far they think you could advance in two years. I would caution, however, that careening through for a year won't necessarily leave a lot of time to make a mark by the time you need to get your app together. If you delay and apply later in the cycle your JROTC profile might look better, but then you get into risk assessments like a delayed CFA not leaving time to perform well if you get injured. Anyway, talk to the folks and see what they say. If you perform well and you're the only one applying for the academy that year you could possibly score a nom even if the JROTC itself doesn't move the needle much.
Call ahead and ask about the schedule and how far they think you could advance in two years. I would caution, however, that careening through for a year won't necessarily leave a lot of time to make a mark by the time you need to get your app together. If you delay and apply later in the cycle your JROTC profile might look better, but then you get into risk assessments like a delayed CFA not leaving time to perform well if you get injured. Anyway, talk to the folks and see what they say. If you perform well and you're the only one applying for the academy that year you could possibly score a nom even if the JROTC itself doesn't move the needle much.
FlyFalcon
'26, FFS (NWP 2021)
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To be a third voice. In my experience all community service was after school. Meetings were held before school. Advancement was seen both in the classroom but alot of it outside.
JROTC is a wonderful program and with my unit if you were a senior even though you had less JROTC experience you would still be given a leadership position as you were considered more "mature" however those in that situation normally had less chance making normal mistakes that someone in the program for a year long would be aloud to make. JROTC allows the chance to learn your leadership style, how to handle difficult peers, and manage multiple tasked at once.
Depending on your corp you might make it to flight commander your second year, because again you would be senior. Your first year will be mostly basics and you might get a Deputy as a first but that depends on who takes interest in you. Even a deputy position and watching how others lead will teach you alot. It tells you how you liked how the situation was handled or if you didn't like it how you would want to handle.
I would be realistic with you might not score high leadership position but it would still be an experience with leadership.
JROTC is a wonderful program and with my unit if you were a senior even though you had less JROTC experience you would still be given a leadership position as you were considered more "mature" however those in that situation normally had less chance making normal mistakes that someone in the program for a year long would be aloud to make. JROTC allows the chance to learn your leadership style, how to handle difficult peers, and manage multiple tasked at once.
Depending on your corp you might make it to flight commander your second year, because again you would be senior. Your first year will be mostly basics and you might get a Deputy as a first but that depends on who takes interest in you. Even a deputy position and watching how others lead will teach you alot. It tells you how you liked how the situation was handled or if you didn't like it how you would want to handle.
I would be realistic with you might not score high leadership position but it would still be an experience with leadership.
Honestly, I think you should simplify your question. Do you want to do JROTC? You can dream of going to USAFA without necessarily dreaming of doing JROTC in high school. JROTC is most definitely not a carbon copy of the academy or life in the military. Someone can enjoy the program and realize the academy/military career is not for them. You can find leadership in dozens of other areas in high school. Like anything in life, don't do something to build your resume, do things because you are passionate about them. The faster you learn this, the happier you'll be.
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I'd recommend against it unless it's something you just really want to do. That's a big time commitment and given your late start, you probably won't have a significant leadership role.
That said - have you thought of joining CAP? I joined a squadron summer before my junior year and was able to have a significant leadership role and gained a lot of valuable experience in a short time with a minimal time commitment (once a week meetings but a lot more time spent on my own studying/practicing drill and eventually drill commands). I found it much more conducive to my crazy tennis/music/hard academics schedule.
That said - have you thought of joining CAP? I joined a squadron summer before my junior year and was able to have a significant leadership role and gained a lot of valuable experience in a short time with a minimal time commitment (once a week meetings but a lot more time spent on my own studying/practicing drill and eventually drill commands). I found it much more conducive to my crazy tennis/music/hard academics schedule.
Thank you for all the responses they've really helped answer my questions. I think I'm leaning towards not doing JROTC but I'm still going to go talk to the leaders of the program at the high school just to get all of the questions answered from them and see how I feel about it.
And yes I have looked into CAP because I think I would really enjoy it but scheduling and other commitments have always been in the way so its not an option to me right now.
And yes I have looked into CAP because I think I would really enjoy it but scheduling and other commitments have always been in the way so its not an option to me right now.
Yes, this is true! I have received a nomination from my NJROTC unit to USAFA this year. If you have any questions pertaining to this, I can be of aid!
Hello! I have been a part of my NJROTC unit for all four years of my high school. Although I am biased towards the program, I believe it has really helped me solidify my passion for a future career in the military. I have also held many leadership positions and been a part of the competition teams, strengthening my application's leadership and extracurricular portion. As for community service, I have proudly been able to earn over 1,000 hours through the program! If you are worried about time, I would suggest emailing the unit's instructors and letting them know in advance about your interest in service academies. For me, though, by my second year in the program, I was appointed as the administrative officer with the rank of a c/ENS due to being elected as a platoon commander my freshman year. So, it is possible to accomplish a lot in just two years in the program!
I thought I read on a thread somewhere that there are only 20 slots for ROTC and this includes college ROTC nominees. He applied to USMA. My son received a JROTC nomination from his AJROTC unit with honor/distinction. For a time this was his only nomination source and I was under the impression that this definitely was not giving him an advantage. Ultimately he also received a nom from our senator for USMA. He hasn't received a decision from USMA yet. I am really curious about this though. Definitely I was led to believe from what I've read that a MOC nom is a better source than the ROTC nom (the MOC nom qualifies you to be on the NWL). Maybe this only applies to USMA? Interested if anyone else has insight.
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Having another source of nomination gives the SA greater flexibility in where to charge an appointment, should they decide to offer one.
Nominees on an elected official’s slate compete against up to 9 others, who must be found fully qualified, for the appointment that will eventually be charged to the elected official. Fully qualified nominees on the slate can also be offered an appointment by the SA, who has other nomination authorities they manage and can charge appointments to.
The JROTC honor unit and college ROTC “nom bucket” may have 20 appointments charged to it. Anyone with this nom competes with all other fully qualified nominees from the entire country, so it is difficult to know numbers. There could be several dozen in the bucket.
See the table on page 7 at link below:
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There's a reason applicants are encouraged to apply for every nom they're eligible for. If you're in the running in a lot of places you're giving Admissions more opportunities to find a place where you fit. A lot of those names on your local congressional slate won't have any shot at a ROTC spot, and come appointment season you'll be happy for any additional bite at the apple.
Hi HK.11
Was the nomination you got through your high school NJROTC unit the one used for going to USAFA or did you also get another nomination through a MOC? I'm wanting to go to USAFA and can get a nomination from my NJROTC high school unit I am in, but I'm wondering if getting a nomination from a NJROTC high-school would eliminate me from getting a nomination through a MOC, which looks better for the USAFA admissions. I did apply for nominations from my MOC's but they don't make their decisions until January and I'm wondering if to exercise my NJROTC nomination which can be sent in now.
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One type of Nomination does not "look" better to a Service Academy. Apply for as many as you are eligible.
You don't pick which nomination gets used. Apply for all nomination sources you are eligible for. The SAs will choose which nom they want to use to build the class they want.
Also be aware that the jrotc unit must have a current designation as honor unit with distinction to provide a cross service nomination.
I'd suggest not doing it. I joined as a sophomore. It has helped me greatly. Starting as a junior would be rough. I feel a step behind missing the first year. You'll start with no rank, cover the same material with freshmen, and who knows if you'll get along with the senior military instructor. If the unit is cohesive then the leadership for next year and the following are already ear marked. If the unit is disjointed, there is likely no nomination in waiting, and will demand huge amounts of time from other interests it sounds like you already have started. Go after leadership positions in those. A team captain in a varsity sport is going to go further than general participation in jrotc.