Dear Parent or Guardian

Welcome to the Tombstone Junior ROTC Program. Master Sergeant Dan Kilpatrick and I are delighted to have you and your student as a member of the JROTC Yellowjacket Battalion. We are looking forward to a great year and looking forward to meeting all of you.
JROTC is like no other course in high school. Although JROTC is a high school course, given during regular school hours, it also includes many out of classroom activities. As a first year cadet (LET1), much of your student’s instruction will be taught by fourth year cadets (LET4) and one day your student will be teaching classes also. That is one of the best points about this program, giving students the opportunity to develop and improve themselves in ways other high school classes cannot. Additionally, JROTC cadets learn leadership skills (how to motivate others) and personal skills that will teach them how to study, take tests and interview for jobs. We do not promote a military lifestyle, but we use military skills to teach self-discipline, confidence, and pride in a job well done. There is, of course, no obligation to serve in the Military.
Much of the teaching in JROTC is not taught through traditional teaching methods, but through training. For example, cadets learn leadership while being in charge and leading other cadets during certain training events, we train physical confidence by having cadets run through a difficult confidence course, we train teamwork by have cadets solve problems as a group, we train pride in appearance by having cadets properly wear a uniform and we train cadets to teach by having them teach classes. Our goal at the end of four years is to have your student better prepared for life after high school, by teaching them the skills needed to succeed in whatever they choose to do.
In the first few weeks of school your student will be issued a uniform at no cost.  He or she will be expected to maintain that uniform and wear it at least once a week. We have many extracurricular activities, and they are open to all cadets who maintain academic eligibility and attend practice times. Although the practice schedules and competition dates are not set yet, these activities do require a lot of time before and after school as well as weekends. Since we believe graduating from high school with good grades is the goal for all cadets, schoolwork will always come first. Our extracurricular teams include, Air Rifle, Color Guard, Mounted Color Guard, Orienteering, Raider, Cyber Patriot, and Academic/Leadership.

Tom Gross

CW4, U.S. Army (Retired)