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JROTC Benefits in High School

Dec 1, 2025 | Leadership, Academics

There are many benefits of being in JROTC in high school, whether you attend a public school or a military boarding school. The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program helps students gain confidence, become more physically fit, and prepare for college and future careers.

Participating in JROTC in high school can even open the door to significant ROTC college scholarships, admission to top colleges, senior military academies and elite service academies like West Point, without requiring military service.

In this article, you will learn more about what JROTC is, the key benefits of participating, how to join a program, and how JROTC differs from ROTC at the college level.

If you’re interested in leadership, character development, and service, JROTC can be a transformative program for high school students. Many cadets say JROTC helped them build the grit, discipline, and determination to reach their goals and push their full potential.

What Is JROTC?

JROTC stands for the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, a high school program sponsored by branches of the United States Armed Forces, including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. The JROTC program’s focus and purpose are leadership and character development, not military recruitment.

Mission of JROTC: “To motivate young people to be better citizens.” – U.S. Army JROTC

Students learn citizenship, leadership, physical fitness, communication, teamwork, and responsibility. While this program is inspired by military structure, it is designed to benefit and provide practical skills to all high school students, whether they are planning on military service or plan to pursue a civilian career.

JROTC vs. ROTC – The Differences

Although the programs may sound somewhat similar, they actually serve very different purposes for high school versus college students. Most importantly, JROTC does not require any military commitment.

JROTC (High School)

ROTC (College)
  • Focus on academics, leadership, citizenship, and personal growth
  • No military service obligation is required
  • Leadership education, physical fitness, and training
  • Builds a foundation for college readiness and expands college admission opportunities
  • Provides training to become a future military officer
  • Military service commitment is required
  • Advanced military science and field training
  • Leads directly to commissioning as a military officer

JROTC gives students a competitive edge, no matter what their chosen future path may be. If a student elects to continue to ROTC in college, many find they are well-prepared to handle the rigor of academics as well as other aspects of college and campus life.

What Are the Benefits of JROTC?

In the United States, thousands of high school students participate in JROTC Leadership Education Training (LET) classes every year. Explore some of the top benefits of JROTC below.

Improve Academic Performance

According to Army JROTC, high school students in their program demonstrate:

  • Higher grade point averages (GPA) than their peers
  • Better attendance (accountability)
  • Competitive college applications

JROTC helps students set goals, become motivated, stay organized, and keep their focus on academics, while gaining career and practical life skills.

Build Physical Fitness & Discipline

Physical Training (PT) is a core part of JROTC. Cadets participate in:

  • Strength and endurance workouts
  • Team-based physical challenges
  • Optional adventure competitions like the JROTC National Raider Challenge (5K runs, one-rope bridge, obstacle courses, and more)

Students at military boarding schools such as Army and Navy Academy, an all-boys boarding school for grades 7-12, participate in additional athletics and leadership-based fitness requirements. In fact, in order to secure a leadership position in the Corps of Cadets (student body), students must go through rigorous physical challenges, alongside interviews and other requirements.

Receive Leadership Training

Modeled after high-level leadership institutions, including West Point and Annapolis (the Naval Academy), JROTC teaches and trains leaders to:

  • Be a leader and a good team player
  • Become a strong communicator
  • Make good choices and decisions
  • Demonstrate self-discipline
  • Model strong values and ethical behavior

At military boarding schools, cadets also benefit from daily mentorship and hands-on leadership roles in all aspects of campus life. They also learn respect for themselves and others, as well as good manners.

Participate in Extracurricular Opportunities

JROTC cadets can join a wide range of specialized teams, clubs, and activities:

  • Drill team
  • Color guard
  • Raider team
  • Orienteering
  • Rifle team
  • Archery team

U.S. military schools also offer many co-curricular activities, trips, and clubs, as well as specialized programs for STEM, ESL, and Learning Strategies. They also may offer programs that are tied to specific interests, as noted below.

Aviation and Equestrian Programs: While some military schools offer a focus on equestrian programs like Culver Academies (IN) and Missouri Military Academy (MO), other military schools like Army & Navy Academy (CA), Marine Military Academy (TX), and Randolph-Macon Academy (VA) offer aviation and UAS programs.

Become a Responsible Citizen

JROTC goes beyond and helps cadets understand responsible citizenship, American history, and community service. Students participate in service-learning projects such as:

  • Red Cross drives
  • Food bank distributions
  • Environmental cleanups
  • Volunteering with the elderly or children

Cadets consistently report high levels of civic engagement and enjoy community service projects.

Strengthen College Applications

Participation in JROTC and especially leadership roles in high school helps students stand out when applying for college admission to:

  • Public and private universities in the U.S. and abroad
  • ROTC programs, including Texas A&M, The Citadel, Norwich, Virginia Military Institute, and many others, with optional participation. In fact, did you know that all Ivy League schools allow college students to participate in ROTC programs, often with training at other nearby universities?
  • U.S. military service academies: U.S. Military Academy (USMA), West Point,
    U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), Annapolis, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA)

Leadership, discipline, and service are traits and experiences that are highly valued by college admission committees.

Earn Scholarships

JROTC participation can help students qualify for:

  • Competitive ROTC full-ride scholarships
  • Prestigious awards such as the AMVETS JROTC Scholarship
  • Nominations to military service academies

While ROTC scholarships to attend college do involve a service commitment, note that JROTC participation in high school does not.

Gain a Head Start in Military Service (This is completely optional)

Students who choose to enlist after high school may enter military service one rank higher if they have completed at least two years of JROTC in high school. This can lead to:

  • Faster advancement
  • Higher pay
  • More leadership responsibility

Develop Strong Character

As highlighted by U.S. News and World Report and other sources, character development is central to JROTC. Core values include:

  • Loyalty
  • Duty
  • Respect
  • Selfless service
  • Honor
  • Integrity
  • Courage

These values and personal traits help cadets succeed, not only in school, but also provide guidance for college and life.

Explore Career Pathways

JROTC skills apply to both civilian and military careers, including:

  • Aviation & UAS
  • Business & management
  • Law & government
  • Education
  • Science & engineering
  • Technology
  • Public service

Cadets learn early how to lead and work effectively on a team, which translates into practical skills valued in any profession.

JROTC PROGRAMS NEAR ME

JROTC Programs in High School

If you’re searching for “JROTC programs near me,” you’ll find them in three main school settings:

Public Schools

Many public schools offer 2-4 years of JROTC courses. Check with your school counselor or district website. Some schools even begin the program during middle school.

Charter Schools

Some charter schools offer JROTC, but availability varies by state. Check with school guidance counselors and directory listings on military JROTC websites.

Military Schools

Military boarding schools fully integrate JROTC into daily life and the academic curriculum. Students receive Leadership Education Training classes following the JROTC curriculum, daily structure, leadership opportunities, and mentorship around the clock.

How to Apply for JROTC

Learn more about how to apply based on your educational plans:

If You Attend a Military School

Enrollment in leadership education training (LET) is typically automatic and will be required. Some military high schools also offer JROTC beginning in middle school.

If You Attend a Public or Charter School

Check your school’s elective catalog for JROTC or LET courses, or speak with an academic counselor. If your school does not offer JROTC, you may be able to join a neighboring school’s program through a reciprocity agreement.

FAQs About JROTC

1. What do students do in JROTC in high school?

Cadets participate in leadership classes, physical training, team activities, drill, service projects, and hands-on learning experiences. They also have opportunities for competitions, leadership roles, community service, and field training.

2. How does the JROTC program affect the lives of students?

JROTC builds confidence, discipline, communication skills, and resilience. Many students say the program helps them perform better academically and socially, while strengthening their college and career readiness.

3. Do you have to join the military after JROTC?

No. JROTC in high school does not require any military commitment. The program is focused on leadership training and citizenship, not recruitment.

4. How does JROTC help you in the military?

Students who complete two or more years in JROTC may enter military service at an advanced rank. They also gain leadership, physical fitness skills, and character traits that help them excel in their training.

5. Does JROTC help with college?

Yes. JROTC strengthens college applications and can make students more competitive for ROTC scholarships, service academies, and selective universities.

Interested in Exploring a Military Boarding School with JROTC in California?

Feel free to contact Army and Navy Academy, located on a scenic beachfront campus in Carlsbad, California. The Academy offers a distinctive and rigorous college-preparatory experience for boys in grades 7–12. As a top-ranked boarding school for boys, a Gurian Center for Excellence, and a model JROTC school, ANA provides:

  • Rigorous College Prep Classes
  • Mandatory Study Time and Support
  • Strong Counseling Support
  • Stellar West Point-Style Leadership training
  • Championship Level Athletics Program
  • Mentorship and Guidance 24/7
  • Structured Daily Schedule

Admission Office at 888.762.2338 or directly at 760.729.2385

Request Information | Apply Now

A practical leadership guide for boys and parents, built on structure, mentorship, and the daily choices that shape character

If you spend a few minutes with Major General Arthur Bartell (U.S. Army Retired), you’ll notice something right away. He is direct, calm, and deeply focused on people. Academy President Barry Shreiar sat down with General Bartell in a recent podcast episode to talk about what develops confident young men in a world that feels louder, faster, and more complicated than ever.

It was not a conversation about hype or shortcuts but about playing the long game. Boys become men through structure that becomes habit, habits that become lifestyle, and a lifestyle that becomes identity.

The conversation also served as a reminder that what ANA is building is bigger than school. It is an academy in the truest sense, a place designed to shape the whole person for life.

Key Takeaways

  • Structure is not the goal; it is the tool that helps boys build durable habits.
  • A boy’s confidence often grows from small, repeatable habits: eye contact, a firm handshake, showing up ready.
  • Mentorship matters most when it is consistent, honest, and respectful.
  • Consequences teach better than shame, and recovery from mistakes is a skill boys must practice.
  • Technology and AI are not going away, so boys need readiness, sequencing, and guardrails to work within this reality, not a denial of it.
  • Daily physical training is about more than fitness, it is a culture check for discipline.
  • ANA’s mission to forge virtuous young men is more relevant now than it has been in decades.

Why This Conversation Matters for Young People

General Bartell served 36 years in the U.S. Army. He entered at a pivotal moment, after the Vietnam War and during the rise of the military as an all-volunteer force. He lived the Cold War years, deployed during Desert Storm, served in the Global War on Terror era, and later commanded U.S. Army Cadet Command, overseeing ROTC and JROTC programs nationwide.

As a military child and later an army officer himself, Bartell spent his life moving frequently, and remarkably, his eight years serving as the president of Army and Navy Academy was the longest he had lived in one place.

That matters because it is how he is able to understand what ANA does so clearly. He knows what instability feels like and what leadership requires. He also knows why a values-driven environment is not a “nice extra,” it is a stabilizing force, especially for those in formative phases of life.

Lesson 1: Your Day Builds You, One Rep at a Time

One of the most practical stories Bartell shared in this episode was about physical fitness training and why, through it, character is revealed. 

General Bartell remembered a commanding general in the 10th Mountain Division who believed he could evaluate a unit simply by watching their morning physical training (PT) routine. This general would show up unannounced and watch how the unit formed up, how they carried themselves half-awake, followed instructions, and how they stayed together when it got uncomfortable. Afterwards, he would send a letter to the commanding officer, detailing what he observed went well and what needed work.

That story resonates with cadets because at ANA, PT is not just exercise; it is part of the culture.

  • It teaches boys to do hard things early, before excuses pile up.
  • It reinforces the idea that discipline is a skill, not a personality trait.
  • It creates a collective challenge, often uncomfortable, which becomes shared pride.

For boys, especially, this matters because the body is often the front door to the mind. Movement can regulate emotion. Exertion can reduce stress. Physical challenge can create clarity. General Bartell’s leadership point is simple: the little things show the truth. A unit’s character shows up in the morning. A boy’s character does, too.

“He used to say that he could tell everything about a unit by how they did their PT.”

– General Arthur Bartell

Lesson 2: Structure Is Not Control, It Is a Launchpad

Structure leads to habits, and habits lead to lifestyle.

ANA uses the military model because it provides a clear, boy-friendly structure. The point is not blind conformity but to reduce chaos by building consistency.

This is one reason families often see changes quickly in a boy who needs a reset. When the day has a rhythm, boys stop negotiating every step and instead start practicing steadiness.

Here is what that can look like, in real-life terms:

  • A uniform is structure. How a cadet wears it is a habit.
  • A handshake is structure. Eye contact is a habit.
  • A schedule is structure. Showing up ready is a habit.
  • A rule is structure. Owning choices is a habit.

Those habits become a lifestyle, and lifestyle becomes identity. Over time, boys stop “trying to be disciplined” and start recognizing themselves as disciplined. That shift is a major part of what parents want, even if they do not always describe it that way. They want their son to feel capable and to trust himself. Structure done well helps boys build that trust.

“We have a structure here and our structure leads to habits, and habits lead to a lifestyle.”

– Barry Shreiar, ANA President

Lesson 3: Consequences Teach Better Than Punishment

Boys will make mistakes, and many will test boundaries. Some of that is immaturity, some of that is wiring, but the simple truth is that boys often learn by doing, not by hearing.

General Bartell likes to reference a hot stove as an easy image to make his point. You can warn a boy not to touch a hot stove, but many still feel compelled to test that warning. That is not a moral failure. It is a developmental reality.  The key is what happens next.

  • Punishment says: you are the problem.
  • Consequence says: your choice has an outcome, now let’s learn and recover.

At ANA, the goal is not to crush a boy for a mistake but to build his ability to recover, make a new choice, and keep moving forward. This is a life skill, not just a school skill.

“I never liked this notion of punishment, so I would push this notion of the consequence.”

 – General Arthur Bartell

Practical Strategies for Parents and Educators: Consequences That Build Character

  • State the rule and the reason in one sentence.
  • Use predictable consequences, not emotional ones.
  • Keep your tone calm, even when your son is not calm.
  • Separate the boy from the behavior. Address what happened, not who he is.
  • Ask one reflective question after the consequence: What will you do differently next time?
  • Praise recovery. Boys need to learn that bouncing back is part of strength.

Lesson 4: Mentorship Is the Shortcut Boys Actually Need

Mentorship is repetitive, consistent, and sometimes feels inconvenient. It is a weekly phone call. It is the adult who is willing to say the hard thing, respectfully, and stay in the relationship.

Shreiar and General Bartell talked about General William Crouch, an ANA alumnus and former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, who served the Academy as a board leader and mentor. In the Pentagon, he had a reputation for being intimidating. At the Academy, he was direct, but also deeply empathetic. For General Bartell, he became a grounding presence during his transition into school leadership.

This is exactly what boys need too. They need adults who:

  • tell the truth clearly
  • keep standards high
  • don’t withdraw when a boy struggles
  • model steadiness under pressure

That is how boys learn to lead themselves and later to lead others.

“He epitomized the word mentor. He was always brutally frank with me, but always respectful.”

 – General Arthur Bartell on General William Crouch

Lesson 5: In a Tech-Saturated World, Boys Need Readiness and Order

The episode turned toward one of the most urgent realities facing parents and schools: boys are receiving information out of sequence.

General Bartell mentions how early boys are gaining access to smartphones, and how unprepared they can be for the volume and intensity of what comes through that device. Shreiar extends the idea with a powerful analogy: kids are being handed advanced material before they have the basics.

AI adds another layer. The challenge is not simply academic integrity. The deeper issue is development. If a boy uses powerful tools before he understands fundamentals, he can lose the chance to build:

  • critical thinking
  • discernment
  • frustration tolerance
  • the ability to spot what does not make sense

In other words, he can lose the very muscles he will need to thrive. This is where virtue education becomes practical. Virtues like responsibility, integrity, and self-control are not abstract. They are the reason a boy chooses the hard work first, and the shortcut second.

“They’re not prepared. They’re not mature enough to understand the information that they have.”

  – Barry Shreiar, ANA President

Practical Strategies for Parents and Educators: Helping Boys Use Tech Without Losing Themselves

  • Teach in proper sequence: fundamentals first, tools second.
  • Create phone-free zones tied to purpose, like meals, homework start time, and bedtime.
  • Ask your son to explain his thinking out loud. This reveals gaps that tech can hide.
  • Teach a simple rule for AI: AI can assist your thinking, but it cannot replace your thinking.
  • Build “friction” into impulsive habits: charging phones outside bedrooms, app limits, or scheduled check-ins.
  • Model restraint yourself. Boys learn more from what they observe than what they are told.

ANA as a Living Lab for Virtue, Structure, and Growth

This conversation is a clear window into what ANA is designed to do. ANA is not trying to produce perfect boys. It is trying to shape capable young men who can handle life with steadiness and character.

That is why cadets practice the basics daily:

  • showing respect in small interactions
  • learning to recover after mistakes
  • building confidence through repetition
  • living inside a structure that becomes their self-discipline
  • being mentored by adults who stay consistent

General Bartell described something he noticed immediately after closing his talk to the Corps of Cadets earlier in the day: cadets making eye contact, giving a firm handshake, carrying themselves with confidence. Those are not small details. They are early signals of identity forming. This is what “forging virtuous young men for life” looks like in real time.

“These cadets are our credentials.”

 – General Arthur Bartell

What You Practice Becomes Who You Are

Cadets, here is the truth you may not want to hear, but later you will be glad you did.

You are building your future self right now, whether you mean to or not. Every morning is a vote. Every choice is a rep.

  • When you show up, you build reliability.
  • When you take correction without collapsing, you build resilience.
  • When you own a mistake and recover, you build integrity.
  • When you do the hard thing before the easy option, you build leadership.

You do not need to be perfect, just consistent. And if you are wondering whether this really matters, ask almost any alumnus. Many of them will tell you the same thing: for some, the light bulb may turn on later, but when it illuminates, that’s when the growth happens.

Final Takeaways

  • Structure is not about control; it is about building habits that last.
  • Consequences teach boys how life works, and recovery is part of strength.
  • Mentorship changes trajectories, especially when it is consistent and honest.
  • PT is a daily culture check for discipline, teamwork, and mental toughness.
  • Technology requires readiness and sequencing, not just rules.
  • Virtue is practical; it is the reason boys choose the hard right over the easy wrong.

Watch or listen to the full episode to hear these leadership lessons in General Bartell’s own words: https://youtu.be/85rNy2IJW0I