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How to Join the Program:
The Jeffersonville High School Air Force JROTC (AFJROTC) Corp IN-061 program is a citizenship opportunity. This program is an elective class. The process to get into the program is fairly simple, students will need to sign up to be in the class with the final approval coming from Colonel Benning. Students can sign up to be in the class at any point during their time at Jeffersonville High School. If students participate in the class for at least 2 years, they can receive a PE credit towards their graduation requirement.

Students are required to be in uniform on Wednesdays and their PT uniform on Fridays. Additionally, Cadets have to comply with grooming standards; they can not have any non-natural hair color or facial piercings. Girls must have their hair up, either in a ponytail or bun, they can only have one ear piercing per ear and can only wear stud earrings. Boys’ hair must be above their ears and cannot have any piercings on their ears or otherwise.

The program is primarily cadet-run, at the end of each Fall semester going into the spring, three juniors are selected for leadership roles within the program. This allows them to gain self-confidence and leadership skills. Each team will have its own commander totalling in about 15 people working to organize and run the program.

“One of the best things is to see them develop from Freshman year to Senior year. You get individuals that come in and are quiet and they’re not really sure about the program, then by their junior or senior year, they’re running everything.” – Col. Benning

About the Program:

There are 13 different after-school activities, the larger ones include a Drill Team, Color Guard, Academic Bowl Team, and a PT team.

The Drill Team practices 3-4 times a week and will compete. The team has competed locally in Floyd County and New Albany, but they’ve also traveled around the region and made it to Nationals. As recently as two years ago,  the team finished third in the nation in two separate categories.

The Color Guard recently finished in fifth place out of all the Air Force Junior ROTC programs. Along with competing, the Color Guard will travel to various venues to present the colors for events. The Guard most recently presented the colors at the University of Louisville versus Notre Dame Football game in front of an audience of 45,000 people. They also present the colors for community service events, including several community events celebrating Veterans Day. Coming up next week, on December 19th the group will present colors and place wreaths at a national cemetery for veterans as part of a program called Wreaths Across America.

The Academic Bowl Team qualified two years in a row for nationals and was among the top 16 in the nation out of around 800 Air Force ROTC programs. Due to COVID, the team wasn’t able to compete, but they did return the following year, receiving an outstanding third place.

Additionally, the program has a Physical Training Team (PT Team), which competes locally and nationally. The program recently received a state-of-the-art obstacle course to be used for training, evaluations, and hosting local competitions. The course was a team effort between Perfection Group, and Mitch Metry from Badgett Group along with the vision of Colonel Benning. The program and its students raised funds for the materials, while Badgett and Perfection Groups both donated labor for the course to be built.

Other extracurricular activities include Model Rocketry, Marksmanship, and community service-related activities with the program constantly growing and working to add more opportunities for its students.

Along with preparing students for potential military experience, this program offers life skills. Cadets learn valuable lessons including finance, leadership, self-confidence, public speaking, enhanced social skills, and more.

Community Service:
Community service is another decent portion of the program, from collecting Toys for Tots, flag retirement ceremonies, volunteering with veterans, placing wreaths on graves, participating in flag ceremonies, presenting the colors, and more!

Career and Military Branch Exploration:
The program takes several annual trips where they go to different military museums and bases including the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Fort Knoxx, the Kentucky International Guard Base in Louisville, and others.

On these trips, cadets are encouraged to consider various career paths both inside the military and as a civilian. Cadets have had the opportunity to speak with dog handlers at Fort Knoxx, and various Pilots at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Post-Secondary Education Benefits:
Those students who join and stay within the program for three to four years intending to join the military, earn a certificate that will allow them to receive a promotion immediately following their graduation from basic training. Additionally, students who plan to go to a military academy or possibly ROTC at their college or university have the possibility of earning several scholarships on a federal level, as well as several other ROTC-specific scholarships.

Students who intend to continue the ROTC or go to a military academy will also be ahead of their peers with knowledge and understanding of their uniform specifications, be prepared for Physical Training, and they’ll have experience creating and presenting mission briefs!

There are several scholarship opportunities for students as part of the ROTC program, one of the biggest is the Federal ROTC Scholarship. There are several scholarships, each for the different services, but they all essentially operate the same way. To earn the scholarship students have an application process which includes a PT test issued by JROTC instructors. The student will also have to complete an interview, with the assistance of several mock interviews provided through the program. Alongside these interviews and PT tests, students are required to have good grades and SAT scores.

There are ROTC-specific scholarships referred to as J-100, this is also a federal scholarship and can cover tuition and fees along with providing cadets with a monthly stipend. These scholarships do have to commit to joining ROTC in college followed by a military commitment. This scholarship is offered to the top 100 ROTC students nationwide. To start the process, the cadet must be nominated by an ROTC instructor.

Flight Academy:
Students can earn their civilian wings through the Flight Academy. Junior and Senior Cadets are encouraged to apply for the summer program. Upon admission, they will have to take a few tests but will receive a full-ride scholarship to an aviation academy anywhere in the country in which they will earn their private pilot’s license.

Additional Accolades:
Every three years the Corps gets inspected. These inspections include PT tests and mission briefs, to name a few aspects. Last year the Core received an “Exceed” standard and “Distinguished Unit with Merit” which is the highest score available. Of the 800 programs, the top 10-15% will receive this score.

Interested in learning more about the program? Click here.