Our School's JROTC History
A Blast From The Past
AHS JROTC History
- The First Military Course on January 19, 1942
- National Defense Corps in 1946
- Official JROTC program in 1966
- Largest Number of cadets was 339
- Largest Number of Instructors was 5
- Drum and Bugle Corps in 1963
- State Drill Meet from 2000-2008
The JROTC Program has changed greatly over the years. Once looked upon primarily as a source of enlisted recruits and officer candidates, it became a citizenship program devoted to the moral, physical and educational uplift of American youth. Although the program retained its military structure and the resultant ability to infuse in its student cadets a sense of discipline and order, it shed most of its early military content.
The study of ethics, citizenship, communications, leadership, life skills and other subjects designed to prepare young men and woman to take their place in adult society, evolved as the core of the program. More recently, an improved student-centered curriculum focusing on character building and civic responsibility are presented in every JROTC classroom.
JROTC is a continuing success story. From a modest beginning of 6 units in 1916, JROTC has expanded to 1645 schools today and to every state in the nation and American schools overseas. Cadet enrollment has grown to 281,000 cadets with 4,000 professional instructors in the classrooms. Comprised solely of active duty Army retirees, the JROTC instructors serve as mentors developing the outstanding young citizens of our country.