Gaining confidence and community through JROTC

Annabelle Evans caught the bug to join the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, more commonly known as JROTC, when she was in 8th grade in the Fort Knox, Kentucky, area and a group of cadets from the local program dropped by to share about their journey.

Cadet Private Annabelle Evans is pictured with a friend while participating in JROTC in the San Antonio, Texas, area. Photo courtesy of Annabelle Evans.

“They talked a lot about how they help you learn to be more confident in yourself,” Evans explained. “And I thought that might be a really good experience.”

Evans made the decision to join her high school’s JROTC program then and there with surprisingly little influence from talk around her family’s dinner table. Annabelle’s dad is Lt. Gen. John Evans, Jr., who knows a thing or two about the value of JROTC and Senior ROTC programs at the collegiate level. At the time of his daughter’s decision, Lt. Gen. Evans was the commanding general of the U.S. Army Cadet Command, which oversees all ROTC programs.

“Oh, I was thrilled!” Lt. Gen. Evans said about his daughter’s decision to join on her own. But he added, he’s cautious when it comes to his two daughters and leading them on a path toward the military.

Lt. Gen. John Evans Jr. and Annabelle Evans pose for a photo inside the Quadrangle, home to U.S. Army North, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Annabelle is in her first year of JROTC at her high school. Photo by Col. Martin L. O’Donnell.

“I’m a supporter of it, I’m an advocate of it, but I want them to make their own choice,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Evans is now the commanding general of U.S. Northern Command’s land component, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army), which is headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. ARNORTH supports everything from the Federal Emergency Management Agency-led COVID-19 pandemic response to the Department of Homeland Security-led Operation Allies Welcome, which helps Afghan evacuees settle in the United States. Still, the general remains a self-proclaimed flag-waver for the JROTC program.

“I became an immediate fan [of JROTC] because there is such a need out there for kids to have structure and guidance and be steeped in the same values that we’re steeped in, in the military: integrity, character, honesty, honor, commitment to country,” said Lt. Gen. Evans.

Lt. Gen. John Evans Jr. speaks with a group of University of Texas at San Antonio ROTC students at a football game in September. Prior to assuming command of U.S. Army North, Evans served as commanding general of the U.S. Army Cadet Command. Photo by Col. Martin L. O’Donnell.

Like the younger Evans’ former school in Kentucky and her high school in the San Antonio, Texas, area, JROTC is in 1,700 high schools across the United States, territories and foreign countries. In its more than 100 years of history, JROTC has become so sought after there are currently 269 schools on the waitlist to open a program.

“The programs are so popular and successful that we have far more requests for programs than we have funding,” said JROTC Director Col. Steve Smith.

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Smith says while the purpose of the program is to instill personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment in high school-age students, it also provides a sense of community.

“Many of our programs are in economically disadvantaged areas, where young people need a program where they feel safe and cared about,” explained Smith. “They are instructed by retired military veterans who teach them self-discipline, communication skills, accountability, teamwork and time management.”

While enrolled in JROTC as an elective through her high school, Annabelle Evans says she has participated in drilling, marching, outdoor recreation and a cadet challenge, which she described as more traditional military physical training (PT.) She has been surprised that the program can be both structured and fun for the cadets at the same time.

“People are a lot more relaxed on certain days,” she said. “Like with PT, everyone’s really happy, everyone is having fun.”

About 300,000 students participate in JROTC voluntarily with no commitment to stay in the program or go on to serve in the U.S. Army. But some will decide to enlist after high school, attend a military academy or join a Senior ROTC program in college. Col. Smith says current data show 21 percent of students continue in the military in some way.

U.S. Army JROTC Cadets demonstrate their drill and ceremony skills at the U.S. Army Cadet Command JROTC National Drill Championship, a 1-day event where Army JROTC Drill teams compete. This event takes place at the Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army JROTC.

Lt. Gen. Evans points out, the value proposition might not be for the kids who do join the military. But, rather, for those who decide not to.

“They will go out there and they will become professionals in our society,” he said. “They will tell the Army’s story to their kids and the kids that they influence.”