Since the war in Iraq began in 2003, more than 4,000 U.S. men and women have died.
This death toll has not stopped about 400 students this year from signing up for the JROTC program in Howard County, but over the years, few JROTC participants have enlisted in the military, said Richard Weisenhoff, the school system?s coordinator of career and technology education.
“It?s remained pretty static,” said Weisenhoff, referring to the number of students in the Junior Reserve Officers? Training Corps.
He maintains that few JROTC participants enter the military, because the program is a leadership course and not meant to recruit.
“We?re not recruiters,” said MasterSgt. Alvin Bowman, the ROTC aerospace science instructor at Oakland Mills High School, one of three schools with a JROTC program.
“But if students do want to go into the military, then we help them do well in the test or apply for scholarships.”
Bowman was referring to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test that was developed by the Department of Defense to determine the qualification for military recruits.
The school system can?t track how many students have actually enlisted because officials don?t conduct postgraduate studies, said school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
County foots most of the JROTC funding
To maintain the JROTC programs, Howard taxpayers pay for about 60 percent of the program with the federal government covering about 40 percent of operating expenses, said school system Budget Officer David White.
In fiscal 2007, the school system received $197,000 in federal reimbursement of the $483,318 cost, he said.
The reimbursement figures are not available for fiscal 2008, he said.
For fiscal 2009, the Howard school board is proposing $526,120, up from $467,048 in fiscal 2008. Ten years ago, funding was $272,000 for 417 students, he said.
Additional funds have been needed for more instructors, salary increases, and summer JROTC activities and travel, including trips to Army bases where students can take obstacle courses, go rappelling and attend a seven-day Army summer camp.
Enrollment in JROTC is expected to be about 410 students in fiscal 2009, according to the school board budget proposal. In 2007, 372 students participated.
These figures represent only a tiny fraction of the 16,000 county?s highschoolers. Comparatively, more than 500 students participate in varsity football.
The JROTC program can be taken in all four years of high school, but students can choose to take only take one or two years, said Army instructor Col. James McGrory at Atholton High School.
No plans for more programs
Because numbers for students interested in JROTC have remained the same, no plans exist to add more schools.
Students from any school can apply, and some drop out, Weisenhoff said.
“There?s a very extensive application process to be a JROTC school,” he said.
Each school?s program is at least 15 years old, officials said, but records do not exist that explain when they started and why.
“We?ve had a complete turnover in the top administrative staff since I?ve been here,” said Caplan, who arrived in 1987.
“We just don?t have the archives to go back and track some of these programs.”
