JROTC = Junior Reserve Officer Training Core. It used to be a big thing at Ft. Knox. I'm not sure any more. Last time I went to Knox - just a coupla years ago - it seemed like a ghost town.
I was in it for two years myself. You learn military history, first aid, cpr, marksmanship (there was a shooting range in the basement of the elementary school next to the high school). You also learn a little about leadership - in fact, the main reason I signed up was because I saw how idiot number 1 had done a 180 with his life. (I'm something of a persona non grata at my alma mater, particularly with the JROTC people, but even in general. Not sure, but I may be the only person from Ft. Knox to get to USMA and then leave on purpose.)
They also have a drill team and those guys are pretty impressive. I saw a number of poorer (intellectually, not financially) students actually blossom in the program. I think I was the only nerd. It was also interesting, because there were people younger than me who outranked me. It was very funny at times to see them exert some kind of respectful control over me. I've seen people abuse authority before - particularly at the USMA - but not too many in the JROTC. Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I either never witnessed it or didn't notice it.
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