***This has been rated R for future reference. This entire document (including this part and the following parts) is an unedited, first-hand account, including the infamous military language and situations.***
Memoirs of a Battalion Commander
Part One
One
I never thought I would be the person I am today, and I never dreamed I would be one of the most influential people in the largest school family at Greenville High. I never imagined I would become a military-influenced woman.
As a fourth grader, the Junior Recruiting Officers Training Corps was just a different name for the Army. I saw the uniforms, heard the commands, and witnessed the seemingly intense training – I looked upon it all, amazed and fearful. I was adamant that I wouldn’t enlist, but that was before I understood the heart of it all.
JROTC is not about recruiting every single youth for the military. It is about motivating young people to become better citizens. It teaches life skills: first aid, survival tactics, insurance and wage specifics, decision making, goal setting, and communication; citizenship skills; government, negotiations, resisting peer pressure and controlled substances, overcoming prejudice and stereotypes, developing respect for self and others, discipline, and tolerance; leadership skills: defining your Winning Color(1) and discovering your leadership style(2); and some military fundamentals: orienteering, ranks and duty positions, drill and ceremony(3), teamwork… I know I could go on forever discussing the benefits of JROTC, but why list them? I have lived them.
JROTC has been a part of me for the last four years, and I know I will miss it once I graduate. But I will never forget the lessons it has taught me.
This is my unedited story.
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1. There are four Winning Colors, each of which define the basics of what kind of person you are. Brown is a Builder – a natural leader; Blue is a Relater – a people-person; Green is a Planner – an artistic, creative thinker; and Red is an Adventurer – a spontaneous, hyperactive person.
2. There are three leadership styles: Directing, where you take total command; Participating, where you work with potential leaders and help them in a one-on-one manner; and Delegating, where you tell others what to do and to do it for you.
3. Drill and Ceremony is a formal marching sequence platoons must perform during an inspection.
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