By Jeff Mullin, Senior Writer
As an officer in full uniform walks through the door, someone of lower rank calls the room to attention, bringing everyone instantly to his or her feet.
This scene occurs many times daily at military facilities throughout the nation and world, but this instance took place not at a base or post but in a high school classroom, and instead of young airmen in uniforms, the people snapping to attention were high schoolers in jeans and T-shirts.
Enid High School’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit, designated as OK-962, has been in existence since 1996. The EHS unit is one of 14 in Oklahoma.
Instructors Lt. Col. Dan Hollingsworth and Chief Master Sgt. Ed Rollins teach the 107 ninth- to 12th-grade members of EHS’ AFJROTC a curriculum that includes aerospace science, leadership education and physical fitness and wellness.
Their goal is not to recruit students into the military — in fact enrolling in AFJROTC carries with it no military obligation whatsoever — but to produce well-rounded, civic-minded young people.
“The Air Force bills it as a citizenship program, as opposed to recruiting,” said Hollingsworth. “Of course, they certainly don’t discourage members entering the Air Force, but that’s not their impetus. The goal is to produce productive citizens.”
Hollingsworth retired after 22 years as an Air Force communications and electronics officer, while Rollins spent more than 26 years on active duty in aircraft maintenance. Both have been with the EHS AFJROTC program since its inception. All AFJROTC instructors are retired military members who go through an instructor course at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
“They let us do some student teaching, kick us in the butt and say, ‘Go to it,’” said Hollingsworth.
Aerospace science covers aviation history, the science of flight (including meteorology, physiology and aerodynamics), introduction to astronomy and exploration of space. Leadership education involves teaching students about the structure and organization of the Air Force, as well as its heritage and traditions — including things like how to march and how to wear the uniform. In addition, they learn about the American flag, its history and traditions, as well as how to properly fold it. The program teaches communication skills, including how to give speeches and presentations. The final year of the program is titled “Life After High School.”
Life After High School involves, “preparing them for college. We work on college applications during class. We do college visits. We get scholarship applications and we make sure the students are ready for college,” said Rollins.
If AFJROTC members decide college isn’t for them, Rollins and Hollingsworth try to help them reach their goals. They contact military recruiters for them or help them get ready for the workaday world. Rollins said 90 percent of Enid High’s AFJROTC graduates “have already committed to something,” whether it be college or the military.
Once a week, on Wednesdays, the student cadets wear their blue uniforms to school. Otherwise they are in uniform for events such as the unit’s annual ball, awards banquet and occasions such as Veterans Day activities at local schools. Hollingsworth and Rollins are in uniform Monday through Thursday.
All members of the AFJROTC corps are required to perform 20 hours of community service per year.
“They go out in the community, and we give back to the community,” Rollins said.
Among the organizations EHS AFJROTC members help are churches, March of Dimes and Special Olympics.
Rollins estimates cadets total from 800 to 1,000 hours community service per year.
The corps also puts on an annual Christmas program for clients at Integris Mental Health/Meadowlake.
Drill practice is conducted on Fridays, and the corps takes part in two drill competitions per school year.
Field trips, known in AFJROTC parlance as “Curriculum in Action,” involve excursions to places like the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kan., and Science Museum Oklahoma. Shorter, more frequent trips are taken to Vance Air Force Base, where students “fly” in base simulators. Cadets also go to the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University to learn about those schools’ ROTC programs.
The JROTC program was begun in 1911 in Cheyenne, Wyo., by Army Lt. Edgar R. Steevers.
“His thought was not recruiting. What we want to do is give them exposure to what’s going on in the military so that when they are out being community leaders, they will understand what is going on at the local base,” said Hollingsworth.
The National Defense Act of 1916 authorized a junior course for non-college military schools and high schools. The Army began the first JROTC units that same year. The ROTC Vitalization Act of 1964 directed the other branches of the military to establish and maintain JROTC units. The first Air Force JROTC programs began in 1966.
Since the first 20 units were established in 1966, the AFJROTC program has grown to 879 units in 48 states and nine foreign countries, totaling some 102,000 cadets.
“Our motto is building better citizens,” Hollingsworth said.
The Air Force supplies all books and other materials used for JROTC instruction, as well as all uniforms. Hollingsworth and Rollins are employed by Enid Public Schools, but half of their salaries is paid by the Air Force.
“Basically, Enid Public Schools got two for one,” Hollingsworth said, chuckling.
Having Vance nearby is a plus for the EHS AFJROTC unit, but the program operates independently from the base.
“We’re fortunate to have an Air Force base here in the neighborhood,” said Hollings-worth.
Students come into the program not even knowing how to march, and leave much more mature and confident.
“First of all, most of them are really quiet and you can’t hear them,” Hollingsworth said. “By their senior year you don’t see that any more.”
Several former EHS AFJROTC cadets, said Rollins, have gone on to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“They get to know themselves as they stay with us the second year, third year and fourth year,” said Rollins. “They are more confident in themselves, they believe in themselves.”
When the program first began at EHS, 135 students signed up before Hollingsworth and Rollins arrived. In recent years the numbers have dropped off.
“Unfortunately a lot of parents think if their kids get into ROTC they are going to end up in Iraq,” said Hollingsworth. JROTC cadets are under no obligation to enter the military after high school, he stressed. “I think if the community really understood what the program was all about and what we can offer, we’d get more kids in the program.”
If cadets do decide to enlist in the military after high school, all branches offer a two-rank boost for completing the JROTC program. If cadets decide to go to college and sign up for ROTC, their first-year military science class will be waived.
Also, students can receive college credit at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs for completing the AFJROTC program. The cost is $65 per credit hour, and students can receive up to 16 college elective credits.
Recruiting teams made up of cadets and an instructor visit each of the Enid middle schools in the spring to try and attract new members to the corps. Students can sign up for AFJROTC right up to their senior years, but they must complete two years of the program to receive military or college benefits.
