Due to a shortage of numbers, the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (AFJROTC) program at Arlington High School may be forced to shut down.

Either 10% of the school or 100 students, whichever number is less, must participate in the program in order for JROTC to meet its contractual requirements. As of the first semester of this school year, 78 students are part of the program.

Here’s a brief history of JROTC.

The program started in 2006 when Bob McClure’s, a member of the school board, daughter was interested in having a JROTC at Arlington High School. The administration sent out a survey asking the students which branch of the military they would be most interested in a program for.

Seeing that 60% of the students were interested in an Air Force program, the school district was eventually able to negotiate a contract with the Air Force to start a JROTC program.

When it started, there were well over 100 students. Now, though, they need at least 22 more.

“The uniforms, curriculum, and half of my salary are paid for by the Department of Defense,” said Sr. Aerospace Science Instructor Major Mike Blue, the JROTC teacher. “They want to set a standard for the number of students there needs to be in the program so they get the most bang for their buck.”

Students in the program have seen great improvements in their own lives as well.

“Parents have said that they have seen a change in students when they’re enrolled in JROTC- they’re more mature and more focused,” Mr. Blue said. “If people care about their fellow students and their well being, they should care about this program being shut down.

Many students have made statements supporting this.

“I didn’t just make friends there, I made a second family,” said Cheylynn Shellabarger (‘20), a JROTC student. “We act like siblings (which yes, includes the bickering), but at the end of the day, we would stand up for each other like a family would.”

Taylor Crandall (‘20) said that he enjoys “the fact that it gets me out doing stuff and the fact that I’m with my friends.”

Hallie Williams (‘18) said she “got drawn in by the sense of family, and I actually fit in with these people. I just have a lot of fun with everyone, and Major is such a great teacher, as well as the class being student led, which makes me feel like we actually do something.”

“The most fun thing I’ve done in JROTC is the lock-ins we do every year that we stay at the school from 7pm until 6am,” Williams also said.

There are many academic benefits to the JROTC program as well.

“Many parents have seen a change in their children,” Mr. Blue said. “They become more mature, more focused as they go through JROTC.”

This is not even to mention the military benefits. As they go into the Air Force, enlistees can immediately enter with higher ranking, and in some cases, can attend the Air Force Academy. This would allow them to become military officers, a role with authority usually gained from great advancement.

If the JROTC program at AHS shuts down, about 1,100 hours of community service every year will no longer be provided. The faculty will also need to find people to help with the Veteran’s Day Assembly, the Memorial Day Assembly, and putting up as well as taking down the U.S. flag every day at the front of the school.

“There’s no military obligation going into JROTC,” said Mr. Blue. “Some students have gone through four years of it and not joined the military… there might be a lot of misperceptions among the student body regarding the program.”

Some of the organizations and events that JROTC volunteers for every year include Relay for Life, Snohomish County Park Rangers, various churches, various retirement homes, Voices of the Village, the Veteran’s Day Parade, and several Memorial Day events.

“They’ve already threatened to shut us down,” said Mr. Blue. “But the way I see it, it’s not over until it’s over.”