Any truth in this??

Said1

Gold Member
Jan 26, 2004
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Somewhere in Ontario
This is a reply to me that was posted on the messageboard for one of my classes (which had nothing to do with my point btw. :D ). Just out of curiosity, does any of it sound familiar?

I went to two different high schools in the US. One was your typical all
American high school, mostly middle and upper class. The other was a
very low funded, predominantly black, lower class school. Both of these
schools had very strong Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps (ROTC)
programs. This is a program funded by the US army for student
recruitment, which starts in middle school (6th grade).

The upper class school had air force and navy JROTC, whereas the lower
class school had just military JROTC. In each of these schools JROTC
were present all year long. They pretty much owned sections of the
cafeteria, library, hallways, front entrance, along with their own
offices on school grounds. They made demonstrations at school
assemblies, they showed up at school games. The upper class school even
had a morning news show for which ROTC had two minutes to talk about new
opportunities in the army. Being that I was raised in Canada where, I
did not generally see military recruitment officers permanently posted
on school grounds, it was not as easy for me to accept it as it was for
others who had been coerced into this recruitment program starting at
the age of 11 or 12.

I did not understand why I was constantly getting recruitment propaganda
in the mail when I never put my pen on anything. It turns out that there
was a clause in the "no child left behind act" that Bush signed in 2001
that said, in exchange for federal funding of public schools, the school
administrations must give out the names and addresses of all students to
the pentagon. There is a clause in there that also says that parents and
students can opt-out, however the ROTC does not mention this. I had to
do research to find out I could, and at low-income schools, their
parents probably do not have time to do research on this sort of thing.

There is major propaganda and coercion going on, and it makes me fell
ill. If you do not know what the ROTC is, I highly suggest a google
search. Also check out, 'ROTC Opt Out' as well in another google search.

If you wish me to bring out stats and figures on how much students are
actually being paid for military education, I can bring them to the
table. If you wish me to speak about joining an institution whose sole
purpose is to prepare for and fight wars, I will also speak about that.
One-Third of the adult homeless population in America has served in the
military!

Cindy Sheehan's son was subjected to this coercion and manipulation, and
ended up where he is today, dead. If I were Cindy Sheehan, I would be
anything but quiet in my quest for justice. There is nothing she could
do that would be ‘too much’ or ‘too far off the deep end’ in terms of
speaking out against this horrible military corporation.
 
I am glad that my PC only comes with audio and video. If it had a sense of smell the reek would drive me away.

The author asserts that in both schools the ROTC "owns" sections. The really sad thing is that in many schools ROTC is so low on the social order it may as well stand for Rejects Of The County.
 
I graduated HS in 1962..went on to college...1963... then into the Army 1964..
Dropped outta college to serve..went to OCS 1966 after serving as a enlisted Buck Sgt E-5...wished they had ROTC when I was in HS...don't get it...what is the problem offering HS kids the opportunity ? The VN war may not have been popular...however I for one am proud to say I served!
 
Around here, one seldom hears of ROTC programs in the schools. The only exception seems to be the higher performing high schools in Chicago. There were two charter schools-grammar schools opened in the past few years, that were like 'military schools' that filled up nearly immediately with waiting list. Those too were in the city.
 
I learned so much in JROTC. The head of the program was an Sergeant Major with WWll experience, his assistant was a Sergeant First class with Vietnam experience, and the head of the program system wide was a Lieutenant Coronal with the same (I had him swear me in when I enlisted). Not only did I learn much about life from these people, I was able to enter the service as a PFC (E-3) instead of a PVT (E-1). That made a difference, I was made a squad leader in basic training because of it, which meant I had to lead. I’d recommend JROTC to any young HS kid even for just one year.

My view is…I recruited them.

To answer your "?" said1..I don't know what it's like now but from what I see
at the schools I'd say the poster is full of BS.. We used to have 200 guys on the field during JROTC period, now I see 20 or 30 max.

PS..It sounds like this guy is mixing JROTC with ROTC..JROTC is HS, ROTC is college. No one is paid in HS to take JROTC..Nor in College, unless their receiving a scholarship.
 
Mr. P said:
I learned so much in JROTC. The head of the program was an Sergeant Major with WWll experience, his assistant was a Sergeant First class with Vietnam experience, and the head of the program system wide was a Lieutenant Coronal with the same (I had him swear me in when I enlisted). Not only did I learn much about life from these people, I was able to enter the service as a PFC (E-3) instead of a PVT (E-1). That made a difference, I was made a squad leader in basic training because of it, which meant I had to lead. I’d recommend JROTC to any young HS kid even for just one year.

My view is…I recruited them.

To answer your "?" said1..I don't know what it's like now but from what I see
at the schools I'd say the poster is full of BS.. We used to have 200 guys on the field during JROTC period, now I see 20 or 30 max.

PS..It sounds like this guy is mixing JROTC with ROTC..JROTC is HS, ROTC is college. No one is paid in HS to take JROTC..Nor in College, unless their receiving a scholarship.

now i'm confused..were you not a chopper pilot in VN?...if ya were then you went on to Warrant Officer flight school...or OCS then flight school...maybe you were just referring to post OCS or Warrant school...when did ya go to Nam? I got out in 1968 just before the TeT offensive...so ya must have been there for this one...kudos!
 
archangel said:
now i'm confused..were you not a chopper pilot in VN?...if ya were then you went on to Warrant Officer flight school...or OCS then flight school...maybe you were just referring to post OCS or Warrant school...when did ya go to Nam? I got out in 1968 just before the TeT offensive...so ya must have been there for this one...kudos!
I was a Warrant Officer/ Pilot Arch, after basic I went to Warrant Officer Flight Training (WOFT), a combined nine month OCS and Flight school.

I never went to VN though, just 4 months out of school is when we evacuated Saigon.

I'm a VN "ERA" vet..
 
Mr. P said:
I was a Warrant Officer/ Pilot Arch, after basic I went to Warrant Officer Flight Training (WOFT), a combined nine month OCS and Flight school.

I never went to VN though, just 4 months out of school is when we evacuated Saigon.

I'm a VN "ERA" vet..


just the luck of the draw...ya are still a VN vet in my books...I wanted Warrant Ofcr flight school but they sent me to OCS Engineering...said I could go to flight shhool after grad...they lied...so I resigned..went back to sgt E-5
Tank Commander...hoo rah!
 
From what I've heard and read, military recruiters, JROTC cadets (High School) and ROTC cadets (College) are all "persona non grata" on academic campuses across the country, generally speaking.
 
KarlMarx said:
From what I've heard and read, military recruiters, JROTC cadets (High School) and ROTC cadets (College) are all "persona non grata" on academic campuses across the country, generally speaking.


with this I have convinced my GD to go to one of the military acadamies upon grad from HS...I'm sure she will be accepted persona ala gratitude...lol
 

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