Junior Army ROTC: "Your Daughter Wears Army Boots!"
Sep 05 '01
The Bottom Line ROTC isn't for every high school student, and it's image could use some polishing. But for some kids, it's a way to learn team spirit, discipline and skill.
As I write this review, I'm looking at my daughter's freshman class photo. It's the one that goes in the yearbook and that we buy packages of to cut apart, put in our wallets and distribute to grandparents. She has her long blonde hair pulled tightly back and out of sight up above the collar of a crisp dark green uniform with brass torch pins on each lapel.
She looks happy and confident, and much more tailored than in her usual uniform: Old Navy tee, cargo shorts and sandals. This is her Junior Army ROTC photo from the start of classes last year. Her happy expression, no doubt from pride, was a bonus for me because my daughter normally just tolerates photo sessions.
"Oh, damn, you have to wear your ROTC uniform on picture day? Why don't you wait for the retake day and wear something else?" I suggested, remembering my humiliation when I was in third grade and absentmindedly wore my Brownie uniform on picture day -- and there wasn't even a Brownie meeting. Now that photo is a gnawing reminder that my commitment to the Brownies lasted about a month.
"I'm glad it's a picture day, I like my uniform," she said. I sighed, resigned. It's easy to tell when I'm not going to win a debate with her.
But now, almost a year later, I'm glad she wore her ROTC uniform that day. I love showing the picture to clients who visit my office. It's a great picture of her, mostly because of the pride on her face.
Since that day, she's filled her uniform with medals, bars, cords, brass pins for academic achievement and other attachments whose meanings I have yet to learn.
She Wants to be Company Commander
Today is going to be exciting for my daughter. Leaders for her class will be announced today, and she hopes to become company commander. Last year, she was a platoon leader. The top spot in the class was given to a boy who hasn't participated in ROTC activities beyond the class, and whose grades were never stellar. He also had been disciplined a couple of times by his superiors, but still retained his post.
After hearing this information trickle out over a period of weeks, I started to wonder if there wasn't a little bit of a sexist attitude when a hard-working, studious and disciplined girl plays second fiddle to a boy who isn't as dedicated. But since it was the first year for both of them, I didn't feel like it was my place as a mother -- yet -- to make waves and question the order of authority.
Besides, it wouldn't hurt my daughter to have something to strive for and earn. At the end of the year, she was chosen as the class Superior LET I Cadet of the Year, the top honor for all students on a local level, and the third highest honor on a national level.
She has high hopes of being chosen company commander this year, and I hope she makes it. If she isn't chosen, my instinct is again, not to interfere as a parent, but to let her disappointment turn to inspiration like it did last year. She knows she has Mom and Dad's support.
The Benefits I've Seen for My Daughter
This is my very first experience with any kind of high school ROTC program. My high school didn't offer the option. When my husband was in high school, he was so focused on academics and ROTC was unpopular because it was at the peak of Vietnam.
One of my best girlfriends, who was a year ahead of me in high school, participated in ROTC at her high school and loved it. She especially enjoyed the marksmanship and archery phases of the class, as my daughter does.
But in the mid 1970s, ROTC wasn't a "cool" thing for a girl to do. She left after her second year because she was tired of being teased, but she's very supportive of my daughter's participation and of the way she ignores any negative comments from classmates.
When I have attended ROTC drill downs and competitions, I've noticed that the most organized and disciplined units from other schools have a larger number of girls than boys. The females really do seem to have a knack for the marches, the commands and the orders -- and they're visibly more competitive than many of the males.
When my daughter is not chosen for a ROTC honor she hoped to get, or she doesn't earn a cord as quickly as expected, she handles the disappointment far better than she did when she was younger. And she eventually gets what she's working for, and even a little more. Being selected as Cadet of the Year was quite a surprise for her.
Even Older Kids Love Rewards
My daughter has always been driven by recognition and awards, which most kids are. Maybe not as much as she is. When my daughter was in kindergarten, I told her that when she was born, she was the biggest baby in the hospital nursery for the whole five days she was there.
"Did I get a little certificate for that?" she asked.
Oh, how I laughed! "No, honey, I'm the one who got the little certificate for that, and boy, did I earn it!" I showed her my completion of Lamaze classes certificate -- earned before I had a C-section.
To this day, I tease her about her competitive spirit, and ROTC gives her and other classmates many opportunities to earn ribbons, medals and certificates. Since nearly everyone will earn several, there is continuous tactile reward for achieving goals. I'm sure it crosses over to other classes.
Colin Powell Found Himself in ROTC
Watching a biography on Colin Powell several months ago, I learned that our Secretary of State was somewhat of a wild boy growing up in his New York neighborhood, and a very average student who drifted about and just got by in his classes. But when he saw an ROTC unit in a parade and learned that he was eligible to join, he was attracted by the order, discipline and team spirit.
You know the rest of that story.
My daughter wants to go to medical school. Even though she probably won't attend college and graduate school via ROTC incentives, it's certainly an option that's open to her and to other high school students. That's one of the reasons she chose ROTC as one of three mandatory courses over physical education or music.
"I'll get a lot more out of it," she said. For her, that's certainly been true. In ROTC, she exhibits discipline and order that she completely lets go at home. If she took care of her room as well as she cares for her uniform, boots, shoes and medals, we'd never have an argument!
Nothing Wrong With A Girl Who Can Take Care of Herself
My daughter can break down a rifle, her marksmanship skills amaze me, she can scale a rope wall, read a military map and a compass -- and because she's already been in martial arts for more than half of her life, I would be less worried than other mothers of teenage girls if a potential attacker targeted my deceptively dainty-looking little girl.
Is there a part of me that longs for her to ask for a glamorous ball gown or show her how to manicure her beautiful fingernails? Yes, there certainly is.
But I think I'm even more proud that she can break down and reassemble the rifle in record time.
That's my girl!
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Member: Ms Hooterville
Location: Hooterville Green Acres USA
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News and feature writer, graphic designer and artist, wife and mother, small business owner.
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