JROTC ROTC There's a Difference

JROTC is a high school level program with the mission “To encourage young people to become better citizens.” Through military styled leadership, both from instructors and older students, students are trained both physically and mentally and encouraged to use what they learn to improve their communities and nation as a whole. There is no commitment to the military; some information about it may be given out, and as you can imagine most people who want to join the military are often in it, but recruiting for the military is not an objective at all. 

The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard each operate their own versions of the program for high schoolers, which are offered at more than 3,000 U.S. high schools as an elective course.

ROTC, on the other hand, is a college-level program with the mission of developing the future leaders of our military. In short, they make officers. While the first two years contain no commitment to the military, being mainly informational (“so you can make an informed decision,” as my MSI Instructor would say), your last two years will require a commitment to the military from you.

The goal of these college-level programs is to train future officers to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. To students who qualify, the ROTC programs offer scholarships that cover the cost of their education. In exchange, there is an expectation that students fulfill active duty services in their chosen branch of the Armed Forces.

It is important to remember that ROTC scholarships provide these benefits in exchange for mandatory active duty service after you complete your bachelor’s program. So you should carefully examine these commitments, along with your other future goals, before accepting a scholarship or entering a program. Academic advisors and ROTC recruiters can answer your questions so you can make a more informed decision.

The leadership structure and method of teaching is roughly the same, though utilized differently. But the content taught and the overall mission behind each are drastically different.

JROTC LHS 2012 drill

JROTC LHS 2012