Drill Team Recruitment and Retention

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Program Motivation/Incentives “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.” Napoleon Bonapart This is the reason, among others, that we in the military have ribbons, medals, badges and other awards. The same for JROTC and all cadet and even scouting programs. Ribbons and shoulder cords are worn on the standard uniform and help let everyone know …

JROTC Recruitment and Fundraising

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JROTC has not had the funding available to do many things over the last 2 years and I believe that it will either remain the same or become worse over time. Therein lies two issues, 1) recruitment of cadets and, 2) funding. A little while back, I posted on Instagram that I wanted cadets to send me their ideas on …

Create Goals, not Dreams

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But not just goals, SMART Goals The difference between a goal and a SMART goal is your goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. SMART goals give you a much better avenue to reach your goals. Your dreams are the fuel that drives the high-performance goal engine. Specific Broad, general terms are not going to help. What, …

The JROTC “Feeder” Program

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If your JROTC unit does not have a plan on how to recruit at the local elementary schools that feed your high school, then you need to implement a strategy this school year! JROTC programs need cadets, that we know. If 8th-grade students are unaware of the benefits of JROTC (leadership, organization skills, drill team, etc.), then those students will probably …

Resistance to Change: Betrayal?

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I felt the need to follow up the article that published last week, Resistance to Change: The Five Monkeys Syndrome. My help is sought out on a consistent basis from high school and college drill teams and also first responder honor guard units. I teach courses and, when asked, also give free advice over the phone, through email or on videos …

Resistance to Change: The Five Monkeys Syndrome

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Even if you are a cadet in high school JROTC or in Sea Cadet, Young Marines, etc. you may have come across this syndrome. If you are an adult, you most definitely have come across this. Please watch this short video before reading on and it will explain. Image courtesy of Sharon Browning and Associates. [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-PvBo75PDo[/embedyt] Now, we are …

World Drill Association Mentioned in AFJROTC Newsletter

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The World Drill Association (WDA), is the organization developed to create a solid foundation for adjudicating all types of drill and ceremonies in the military drill world: regulation, ceremonial and exhibition. The WDA exists to educate judges and Military Drill Professionals of all levels. The WDA recently co-hosted a drill meet at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, FL and Headquarters, …

My Cadet Hero

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The best reason for JROTC, in my view, is that high school cadets can wear a military uniform and participate in different activities no matter their physical issues. I have worked with JROTC units for many years and have had the opportunity to work with many, many cadets. Of those cadets I have seen some with physical issues that would …

The Military Cordon

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Military cordons (two lines of people, armed or unarmed, facing each other) are used for arrival/departure ceremonies and awards banquets. While the rifle manual here needs work, they do a fine job.   If you have any questions, please ask.

Drill Team and Honor Guard Unit Training

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In the military, we train. And we train, and train and train. We have major training scenarios (exercises) that involve multiple services and other countries, we have them for a single military installation, single unit training, all the way down to military specialty and ancillary training for each individual. It’s time consuming, but well worth the effort. After all, lives …