Air Force Jr. ROTC and CAP

Big_Ed · May 01, 2009, 01:14:49 AM

About a week ago, my local school board voted to explore starting a JROTC unit in our Jr. High School.

I really have not had any experience with that organization.

Is this going to help or hurt my composite unit? I can see some pros & cons. What has been some of your experiences?

Spike · May 01, 2009, 01:54:31 AM

Can I ask if you ever thought about starting a school program?

As far as JROTC, you will surely have some competition. It won't be as bad as some may lead on. What type of JROTC is it trying to get? If you can propose trying to get AFJROTC, it may be beneficial to you. You can get used BDU's from them....etc.

Propose joint CAP-JROTC activities, and if you have a plane, fly JROTC.

DC · May 01, 2009, 01:58:53 AM

Quote from: Big_Ed on May 01, 2009, 01:14:49 AM
About a week ago, my local school board voted to explore starting a JROTC unit in our Jr. High School.

I really have not had any experience with that organization.

Is this going to help or hurt my composite unit? I can see some pros & cons. What has been some of your experiences?

Are you sure it was a middle school? All the JROTC programs I have ever heard of are High School based..

To your question, I live in a town of about 50,000, with five large JROTC units, three of them Air Force, and our Cadet Program is booming. I doubt there will be a mass exodus from your squadron to the new JROTC detachment. Be wary of 'dual-enrolled' (for lack of a better term) cadets though, in my experience they tend to do better at first, but do not/cannot commit to CAP as much as other cadets.

Big_Ed · May 01, 2009, 02:20:47 AM

The school complex has 7th, 8th & 9th in the junior high & the rest of the higher grades in a different building.

There are 9 school districts in my county. We draw cadets from 7 of them. We live in a fairly rural area. Flight 93 went down 5 miles from our unit HQ.

The only school program, that I'm aware of in PAWG, is in the Philadelphia area.

I read in 52-16 about credit given to JROTC cadets. Do they do the same for our cadets? I know we provide O-flights to a few units in Pittsburgh.

RiverAux · May 01, 2009, 02:23:19 AM

In medium sized towns and larger I don't think there is any real competition to worry about. However, in rural areas like yours it could be a factor. But, competition isn't necessarily bad for the CAP unit. Though if you aren't already doing a lot of o-rides and ES stuff, you may want to consider it as those are going to be some of the more distinguishing factors between the programs.

Spike · May 01, 2009, 02:26:07 AM

Whatever happens, create a good working relationship with the JROTC instructors.

Big_Ed · May 01, 2009, 02:40:55 AM

We are very heavy in ES and have a great working relationship with our county Emergency Services community. Two of my seniors are PA State Police Troopers. (former cadets of mine)

We even assist the police with closing streets off for parades. We use it as a communications exercise. We're in the public eye a lot. Many of my seniors are on the county's Incident Management Team.

I'm active with VFW & American Legion & no one has any idea who will administer the program for the school. You betcha, I'd like to have a good relationship with any of the instructors. I'm looking forward to some "fresh" ideas.

RiverAux · May 01, 2009, 02:41:18 AM

I forgot to mention that it isn't all that uncommon to have CAP cadets that are also in JROTC. Doesn't seem to cause too many problems, if any.

cap235629 · May 01, 2009, 04:10:49 AM

JROTC is restricted to grades 9-12, you might use that as a way to push the cadet program as an alternative

CadetProgramGuy · May 01, 2009, 04:11:44 AM

Quote from: cap235629 on May 01, 2009, 04:10:49 AM
JROTC is restricted to grades 9-12, you might use that as a way to push the cadet program as an alternative

Great Idea!!

:clap: :clap: :clap:

cap235629 · May 01, 2009, 04:38:54 AM

Quote from: Big_Ed on May 01, 2009, 02:40:55 AM
We are very heavy in ES and have a great working relationship with our county Emergency Services community. Two of my seniors are PA State Police Troopers. (former cadets of mine)

We even assist the police with closing streets off for parades. We use it as a communications exercise. We're in the public eye a lot. Many of my seniors are on the county's Incident Management Team.

I'm active with VFW & American Legion & no one has any idea who will administer the program for the school. You betcha, I'd like to have a good relationship with any of the instructors. I'm looking forward to some "fresh" ideas.

Which is something the JROTC program can't offer. Another hook for recruiting

LtCol Hooligan · May 01, 2009, 01:39:39 PM

The Fargo area (appx 190,000 people in the area) has had JROTC in it's high schools for many years and I have actually seen ups and downs over the years. Some years they have a lot of excitement and some years we do. As others mentioned, the best thing to do is keep working with them. They have cadet comps, drill offs, leadership activities and other things that can spur competition. Just watch out if there is too much or your cadets will be fighting in the halls- my program is better than yours!!

I also highly recommend working with them to get funding for o'rides and make sure that each of their cadets receives a CAP recruiting pamphlet after every ride.

Flying Pig · May 02, 2009, 12:08:30 AM

We work very close with our local AFJROTC. No problems. We even uniforms and other supplies from them and we often do joint activities like base tours, etc.

C/MSgt Lunsford · May 02, 2009, 12:19:44 AM

Um. I would think as long as the programs (JROTC and CAP) don't collide timing with each other then it should be fine. Is the JROTC Unit an AFJROTC? If it is I would think that both the CAP and JROTC should co-exist with each other. Ah, who knows.

EMT-83 · May 02, 2009, 12:36:44 AM

We have co-existed with a JROTC program in our local high school for many years. There a few cadets in both programs, and they're pretty high speed.

Most JROTC cadets opt out of CAP because they can't transfer their grade, especially at cadet officer levels. ES seems to be the attraction for those with dual membership. We do fly JROTC cadets, but surprisingly few are interested. We're invited to the annual JROTC banquet, where we help present awards.

To sum it up, we have a good working relationship. The programs don't seem to conflict with each other; both are going strong.

C/MSgt Lunsford · May 02, 2009, 12:45:25 AM

Well that is good to hear. My county won't sponsor a JROTC Unit so I resorted to CAP. Can't wait for my 1st Meeting Tuesday. I'm nervous though.

DC · May 02, 2009, 01:41:50 AM

Quote from: Lunsford on May 02, 2009, 12:45:25 AM
Well that is good to hear. My county won't sponsor a JROTC Unit so I resorted to CAP. Can't wait for my 1st Meeting Tuesday. I'm nervous though.

I'm sure you will find CAP just as fulfilling and engaging as JROTC would have been. Perhaps even more so, CAP offers some phenomenal opportunities that JROTC doesn't.

C/MSgt Lunsford · May 02, 2009, 05:31:04 AM

Quote from: DC on May 02, 2009, 01:41:50 AM
Quote from: Lunsford on May 02, 2009, 12:45:25 AM
Well that is good to hear. My county won't sponsor a JROTC Unit so I resorted to CAP. Can't wait for my 1st Meeting Tuesday. I'm nervous though.
I'm sure you will find CAP just as fulfilling and engaging as JROTC would have been. Perhaps even more so, CAP offers some phenomenal opportunities that JROTC doesn't.

I saw WVs Florida Trip and it looked very exciting. I know that JROTC would not do anything like that. Hope I can make that this year.