Senator Roger Wicker
Among its other effects, the coronavirus pandemic has eroded the quality of education across the country, especially in disadvantaged rural and urban communities, where young people long for purpose-driven futures. [The Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] and similar programs like the Young Marines are promising means to empower young Americans with strong civic education and a commitment to serve others, in or out of uniform.
As Senate Armed Services Committee leaders who were inspired by the life of the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and the late Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) worked together to establish the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. For three years, members of this congressionally mandated commission met with Americans from across the country to explore both the appetite for and barriers to service among Americans. The commission ultimately formulated 49 recommendations, and With Honor Action alongside the For Country Caucus has worked to pass a number of them, including those related to strengthening the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC).
Over half a million high school-aged students across the country participate in the JROTC. This crucial course in civic education and leadership is also the first step to uniformed service for many of these participants, which is why With Honor worked alongside the commission and leaders of the For Country Caucus to develop the Inspire to Serve Act. This comprehensive bill, introduced by Reps. and For Country Caucus Founding Co-Chairs, Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Don Bacon (R-NE), would usher in a new era of public service and deliver much-needed modifications and expansions to the JROTC program and other service agencies nationwide.
In late 2020, with the help of With Honor and the bipartisan Members of the For Country Caucus, Congress passed an expansion of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the JROTC program. The provision spearheaded by then-Rep. and For Country Caucus Members Anthony Brown (D-MD), Rep. and Caucus Member Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and then-Rep. and Caucus Member Mike Waltz (R-FL), authorized new grant programs to increase the training of JROTC students in STEM fields. Subsequent legislation provided $13 million for JROTC programs to implement the new curriculum.
In 2022, With Honor continued to advocate for the JROTC expansion by working with Rep. Bacon to pass the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Expansion Act. It directs the Defense Department to develop a plan to expand the JROTC program to ensure greater access in rural, low-income, and historically underserved communities. In the Senate, With Honor Action supported a provision from Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) for that year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that addresses the instructor shortage by expanding eligibility for military retirees to serve as JROTC instructors while requiring an honorable discharge after at least eight years of service.
In the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA then-Rep. Waltz, secured passage of two beneficial provisions. One lets veterans use the Troops-To-Teachers program to become JROTC instructors and the other aligns retirement pay scales for current JROTC instructors. In the Senate, Senator Wicker led a significant and successful legislative effort that expands the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps from 3,275 existing units to 4,000.
With Honor is proud of the progress, but our work is not yet complete. That’s why we are supporting several provisions in this year’s NDAA to continue improving JROTC programs nationwide. In the House version of the NDAA, For Country Caucus Members, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan and Rep. Mike Waltz, are leading a provision to protect JROTC units at smaller schools. In the Senate NDAA, we are supportive of a provision that was included to authorize up to 4,100 JROTC programs, another increase from the previous year.
Read more about With Honor Action’s work to strengthen and expand the Junior Reserve Officers’ Corps in this Fortune op-ed, whose authors include then Rep. and For Country Caucus Vice Chair Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and then Rep. and For Country Caucus member Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI). You can learn more about JROTC’s in this in-depth national study by RAND.
Watch JROTC Student Interviews Below
