Recent travels to college campuses across the south and southeastern United States have anecdotally reinforced why the US Army continues to struggle to meet recruiting goals. Many students with whom I spoke are uninterested, not informed, or outright hostile to military service. These youth are apathetic about joining the military even though they are deeply interested in service to others and potential future work in non-profits, government and advocacy groups.
During question and answer sessions, I often query these young people on their exposure to someone currently in the US military. My bottom line takeaway is that there is no better a tool for recruiting than a friend and professional currently serving the country in uniform who loves their job. This is one secret to fixing the Army’s recruiting woes.
For a variety of reasons that span decades, more young Americans than ever are not exposed on a regular basis to someone in military uniform. While not a perfect match because it is not explicitly a recruiting effort, one exception is high school programs centered on leadership training, ethics and the responsibilities of citizenship called the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program. Its curriculum in the Army was recently expanded to include STEM programs, including robotics and cyber skills.
During a discussion 8 months ago at AEI with the US Air Force Chief of Staff, General CQ Brown echoed this sentiment. He said, “young people want to be part of what they see. If you’ve never seen it, you never say I want to grow up to be something you’ve never seen.” He concluded that having Junior ROTC in high schools provides that opportunity for young Americans to be exposed to what motivates those in the military, their core values, and their demonstrated leadership.
Exposure to the military is real and a proven driver of recruitment, with Army Recruiting Command reporting in 2019 that “79 percent of recruits have a relative who served.” But, what is even more remarkable is that having Junior ROTC programs in high school does not just attract, entice and benefit those who participate. Simply having a high school with students exposed to the JROTC program is enough to send twice as many students to a military recruiter later.
The sitting Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force was this exact teenager back in the day. He was not enrolled in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at his high school, which had one, and is now the most senior ranking Air Force officer in the entire US military.
Just as important is that for the three-quarters of high school cadets who don’t enlist, the program “still introduces them to the military and increases the chances that they will recommend or “influence” others to join in the future.”
JROTC also benefits students in a variety of ways beyond exposing them to the merits of military service. For instance, according to Army JROTC leaders, students enrolled in the program earned better grade point averages, graduated high school at higher rates, and attended school more often than those not enrolled.
The challenge is that there are not enough high schools with this program (less than 3,500 JROTC units operated in 2022), and there have been a small but serious spate of challenges and allegations of misconduct. It is in the best interest of every senior leader to dedicate time and attention to fixing and strengthening America’s JROTC programs immediately.
As the Army Chief of Staff General James McConville recently told the Senate, 44 percent of young people who join the Army come from junior ROTC programs but only ten percent of high schools offer it. Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS) is keenly interested in expanding JROTC quickly. He has a partner in (soon-to-be retired) General McConville, who concluded his testimony today saying Army leaders are “looking for everyone’s help” to inspire young people to serve.
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