When you hear of the high school level Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, some may think this program is designed to train soldiers and military personnel, ready to defend the country post-graduation.
Although many students from this program do enter the military upon completion, this “citizen development program” has far more to offer students than the path to a military career.
“The program is not to recruit kids in the military,” Senior Naval Science Instructor, Commander Dustin Martin, says. “The program is to build these young men and women into future leaders. Possibly in the military, but it’s also in the civilian world and their community.”
Classwork and more
Now retired after more than 22 years of active duty in the Navy, Martin is entering his eighth year as the primary leader of Grove City High School’s program - the Greyhounds.
Recommissioned in 1994, the NJROTC program acts as a typical high school course, where those enrolled meet one period a day for the academic portion of their experience.
What Martin says separates their unit from others across the nation is their emphasis on the students taking charge, oftentimes leading class in presentations and attendance, as well as shaping their curriculum.
GCHS NJROTC Night
Learning in the classroom can stretch from ocean sciences and government history to more hands-on lessons such as marksmanship and military life.
“One of the things we take pride in is that this is a cadet-led unit,” Martin says. “Yes, we will guide them, but the cadets (who will be leaders) get together at the end of the school year and set the goals for next year. We’re there to be those guideposts, so they stay inside the lines.”
NJROTC also has many extracurriculars through the program, such as precision drill and ceremony teams, plus drone teams, which compete against other units in the Midwest and even on a national level.
Whether it’s the academic lesson of the day or an extracurricular competition, the Greyhound unit is focused on developing into good members of society through its disciplined and structured program.
“Building teamwork, leadership, mentorship and self-discipline are the keys for young people to be successful in the future no matter what they do: if they go to college, vocational school or the military,” Martin says. “That’s what’s going to set them apart.”
Who joins NJROTC and why
Naturally, this program attracts students interested in a military career after high school. Regardless of the branch or specialty a cadet may want to pursue, benefits such as increased responsibility, higher compensation and quickly attaining leadership roles will be granted to NJROTC graduates – essentially advancing their military career before even joining.
“The military rewards these people for doing the program,” Martin says. “So if you do three years in the Navy JROTC and you just go straight into the United States Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, they promote you two ranks higher than anybody else that came out of any high school.”
NJROTC Night at GCHS
While this program certainly provides a strong foundation with perks for the military-focused students, Martin estimates that only about 30-40 percent actually enter the military after graduating from Grove City’s NJROTC.
This results in many students choosing NJROTC for alternative reasons, such as getting involved with the program’s extracurricular activities, fulfilling their physical education credit or just looking to meet similarly driven friends at school.
“It’s all about what a kid wants to put into it. It’s not like signing up for the military,” Martin says. “There’s no military obligation whatsoever. It’s just a high school class.”
He says students can wear the uniform once a week as required for inspection, participate in the program and leave after two years, or graduate with no intention to pursue the military. While this does occur, there have been many students who have joined with this exact mindset, though the NJROTC experience completely redefines their course.
Caroline Richards, a 2022 graduate of the Grove City program, was initially one of those students looking to fulfill her physical education credit – knowing very little about the NJROTC as a freshman.
ROTC Band Members
After sitting through classes on her anxiety-filled first day of high school, Richards took an unexpected liking to the NJROTC program from the moment she stepped through the classroom door.
“I remember my first day in NJROTC. The instructors were greeting us all when we walked in, introducing us to themselves and each other,” Richards says. “It was just a totally different environment where it was more about them getting to know us as people rather than just being like, ‘Okay, here’s the syllabus and what you’re going to learn in this class.’ It was the only class that day I didn’t hate.”
This affinity for the program would not end after obtaining her physical education credit. She went on to spend all four years of high school in NJROTC, eventually becoming the commanding officer as a senior, as well as the drill team captain.
She now attends Miami University on a scholarship with Navy ROTC, with the goal of becoming a naval officer post-graduation – a goal she might not have known without Martin and the Grove City program.
“It really put me on a great path because I honestly have no idea what I would have done in my life or what I would have ended up being if I didn’t go that route,” Richards says. “Doing this program definitely helped me figure out what I’m good at, what I’m bad at and what I enjoy and want to do.”
Kyle Quinlan is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
