In Fairfax County Schools, students in the U.S. Army’s Junior Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps or JROTC programs learn valuable lessons from veterans and servicemembers — lessons that would aid them in future military careers and beyond. Those skills help them become confident, upstanding citizens, no matter what they go on to do after high school.
At Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, JROTC instructors Sgt. 1st Class Sherman Wiles and Capt. Edward Guardo, both former drill sergeants, lead a group of students in this immersive program. This is just one of Fairfax County Public Schools’ eight JROTC programs. Through the course of a year in JROTC, students don military uniforms, participate in physical fitness drills, and learn key elements of what goes into military service.
But the class goes beyond that. “This is a better-citizenship program only. The majority of kids that come through this program do not join the military,” Guardo says.
Instead, JROTC is a place where students learn about leadership and community service and make plans for what they want to do after high school, regardless of whether it involves military service.
Key Life Skills
Throughout a JROTC class, students learn lessons about leadership, citizenship, and physical fitness that prepare them for life after high school.
Depending on the day of the week, students may have uniform checks (complete with knowledge checks), fitness activities, community speakers, or more technical assignments. In one annual project, students create a plan for what they want to do when they graduate, whether it’s joining a military organization, getting a college education, or joining the workforce.
“You’re looking at, OK, how much does college actually cost, and how can I afford that? … Where am I going to live after college? What job am I going to have?” said student Alex Moore. Doing the project every year made him feel more prepared for life after high school, Moore said.
Students also participate in community service projects, such as one in-progress project to collect clothing donations for Project Purple Heart. In one past project, the class refurbished an unused corner of campus to create a mental-health space where students or staff can go for quiet time and meditation.
In addition to the day-to-day operations in JROTC, teams of students participate in a national competition called the Leadership and Academic Bowl, or JLAB, a Jeopardy!-style knowledge test of academic and leadership knowledge. Students from schools around the country progress through several rounds of competition, eventually culminating in a national competition. Lake Braddock’s academic team placed No. 1 in the nation in 2022, with the leadership team at No. 15. Last year, the academic team became the only Virginia school to make it to the national level.
Self-Confidence
For the instructors, the most rewarding part of the program is a chance to help students come out of their shells and gain key skills like self-confidence and public speaking.
“A lot of kids have low self-esteem, and they have difficulty talking. … They’re hard on themselves, harder than they need to be,” said Wiles. “And I think when you can go out there and talk to them one on one, so they’re not around other people, so they don’t feel embarrassed, and you try to build them up.”
Guardo points to one student, Alden Flores, who was shy and reserved at the beginning of the class but opened up as the school year progressed.
“Alden was one of our most shy cadets that we had in our program. I watched Alden grow from someone that would not talk to anybody, that would sit all by themselves, to leading people,” Guardo says. “I see it all the time. I see these kids come in as freshmen, so scared to talk to people, and [later] they’re leading the battalion.”
“It’s just very easy to connect with people [in JROTC], to approach them,” Flores says. “And it really helps me as a person. And it’s good to know that it has helped other people as well.”
Other students also say they’ve grown in their time in JROTC.
“I found my passion for serving others and giving back, and that’s what I realized that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Through JRTC, I’ve learned things like discipline, and I’ve learned things like respect and responsibility. All of those different traits and values I try to incorporate back into my life through other things,” Moore says. “I just want to continue to show the younger cadets and the younger people that this is what this program is all about. It’s about serving others.”
Feature image of Lake Braddock Secondary School’s JROTC students by Maggie Roth
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