Mooseheart High School students are enthusiastically conducting impressive Drill Team routines, learning military discipline and leadership and wearing their uniforms with pride. . .

NJROTC: Stronger Than Ever

By MICHAEL McCULLOH

> It is a Wednesday morning in September at the Child City. The upstairs hall of Mooseheart High School is flooded with students wearing deep-blue naval uniforms.

Several are gathered near a sign-up sheet, ready to add their names to extracurricular activities such as rifle drill teams and color guards. There is enthusiasm and pride in their bearing. They constitute, at least once every week, the Naval Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NJROTC) program at Mooseheart.

Without any prompting, the cadets are happy to relate why they enjoy the program so much. To them, it is much more than simply “another school course.”

Senior Danny Anderson, Company Commander for 2004-05, said a good-natured competitive spirit abounds among his peers to earn trophies while at rifle drill team competitions. His other goal: learn as much as he can about leadership skills and relate what he’s learned to younger cadets.

Older cadets such as Anderson do seem to be having a positive effect on younger cadets. Freshman Andy Greenaway stunned his classmates last spring when he took charge of an impressive drill, as his platoon’s leader at the Change of Command exercises—when he was still an eighth-grader.

Senior Bryan Cross said the climate of Mooseheart’s 30-year-old NJROTC program has changed dramatically in the past few years. There is much more interest among students in the program now, he said; the cadets of all class levels have much more unity and team spirit.

Even many students who were once less than thrilled to take the mandatory NJROTC have changed their attitude about the program. Senior Bobby McGee was one such student. He initially dreaded taking NJROTC, but in time learned to appreciate the program. In fact, this past summer he attended optional Basic Leadership Training at a National Guard training base on in Marseilles, IL. Although the program was physically exhausting, McGee (who now serves as the NJROTC Athletic Commander) said it motivated him to strive for a better program.

The renewed enthusiasm in the program is in part a trickle-down effect of dynamic new leadership the program has experienced the past few years.

Retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Doug Groters and retired U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Ruben Hinton, both married with young families, have viewed working at Mooseheart as a rewarding experience following their naval careers. (Under federal guidelines for NJROTC, only a retired commissioned officer such as Groters can serve as a “primary” instructor; a “non-com” such as Sgt. Hinton serves in an assistant capacity).

Hinton served 20 years in the USMC, working as a military police officer, recruiter and career planner. When he was looking for a change, he taught for a year at a charter school and then learned about a job opening at Mooseheart (which is only one of a half-dozen NJROTC schools nationwide where participation is mandatory for every ninth- through 12th-grade student.) Hinton was immediately impressed by the campus and the unique situation where there is a student body with a large percentage of young people who have come from less-than-stable homes.

Cmdr. Doug Groters is a 25-year Navy veteran. He has served on the USS Fife, a destroyer; and the USS America, an aircraft carrier. His experience includes three deployments to every ocean except the Arctic.

“I was attracted to Mooseheart when I saw that there was a very strong commitment on the part of the staff to the children,” he said. “The facilities are also outstanding.”

Because of his background as a specialist in meteorology and oceanography, Groters is more than well-equipped to lead the program. NJROTC is a comprehensive, five-days-a-week, four-year academic course of study in the history of naval warfare, oceanography, meteorology, navigation, astronomy, survival training, communications—and how all these relate to modern naval practice.

Participation in NJROTC is mandatory because of the small enrollment of Mooseheart High School, which for most of the 1980s and ’90s had fewer than 100 students in grades nine through 12. The U.S. Navy, which commits about a $80,000 annual investment to Mooseheart’s program alone, requires that for a school to have an NJROTC program, at least 10% of a school’s student body, or 100 students—whichever is more—must be enrolled in it. Mooseheart is usually around this number, so there is 100 percent participation.

Groters said that because participation is mandatory, his challenge is creating an effective interest in the program for students who might not necessarily have an interest in NJROTC.

“We would like to help them see the value of NJROTC, and find skills, gifts and talents in some area of the program,” he said. “We also want to help students pursue something they are passionate about, whether it be music or the NJROTC program. Our goal is to help teach personal discipline, not promote the Navy.”

Indeed, both Groters and Hinton emphasized that the NJROTC is not intended to serve as an enlistment tool for the Navy; indeed, any direct or implied attempts at recruiting are strictly prohibited by the NJROTC National Directive.

Groters said their job as leaders is to teach students a sense of honor, personal courage and confidence; plus a commitment to, and value and respect for, their peers.

As a mission statement which sums up his philosophy, Groters quotes noted pastor and author John Maxwell: “Help students achieve authentic success.”

How does Groters define “authentic success?” He is a firm believer that if you teach students what personal discipline is, what respect for others is and what responsibility entails, they will become better leaders.

“We would like to help the students to reach their maximum potential; to show them the value of sowing seeds that benefit others,” Groters said.

Groters and Hinton also believe that the success of the program is not to simply instruct the students, but give them a sense of ownership in the program.“We tell them this is their program, and we are beginning to see the benefits of it,” Groters said. “In essence, we started a brand new program last year,” Groters said. (Groters came aboard this year when his friend, Cmdr. Greg Hansen, left for another career opportunity).

Since students have been given more control over the program, Hinton said, they have started to enjoy drill competitions so much they are coming up with their own routines, and changing them regularly. “You can see there is more enthusiasm in many of the students,” Hinton said.

“We’re especially pleased to see first-year cadets grow and take responsibility,” Groters added. “We want to take the cadets and drill teams to a point where we can develop a level of excellence we can be proud of. It will be fun to see them develop in the next few years.”

The NJROTC program also runs smoothly with the assurance there is unwavering support of the program from Mooseheart administration, Hinton said.

In fact, Mooseheart Superintendent Gary Urwiler, a 1987 graduate himself, confirmed he is “fully behind the NJROTC program. . . the current instructors are the best I have ever seen.”

The program itself has been an established Mooseheart institution since the fall of 1974. But, going all the way back to 1916, the Mooseheart Cadet Corps had existed as a required program (for boys only). From 1956-67, there was a more formal high-school U.S. Army Reserve Unit established at Mooseheart. But the campus’s involvement with the military took a seven-year hiatus, from 1967-74, when the Army announced that it would only continue the program if Mooseheart would agree to be transformed into a full, male-only military academy. That notion was rejected immediately, and that was it for military training at Mooseheart until the modern (both genders) version of NJROTC was introduced in 1974.

Groters said he believes the benefits are numerous for students who fully embrace the NJROTC program.

“Our research has shown that these students are better prepared for college and future careers,” he said.

Despite the fact that the NJROTC is not a recruiting tool, many students may still see military service as a viable option after they graduate.

Senior Tim Greenaway said the program has helped him learn discipline and focus, to an extent that he is seriously considering military service after he graduates.

Another bonus: if they do enter in military service, they begin at two grades higher rank (such as a Marine Lance Corporal instead of Private) as well as a higher pay scale.

There are at least two major drill competitions coming up this year; students are marching in several parades as well. The cadets (with the solid support of Mooseheart staff and family teachers) are pumped up about this opportunity.

Interest in the program is showing no sign of wavering. During a recent physical training session, 14 students showed up at 0600 hours and endured a rigorous traning session which included a 1.5-mile run and numerous calisthenics.

“They are motivated about their NJROTC program,” Hinton said. “The program has moved in an upward direction, and continues to improve.”



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