| Veterans
News Flash 
Retired
Airmen Don Uniforms
Once Again to Teach JROTC
Cadets
By Carl Bergquist
Air Force Link
8/13/2007 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN)
-- More than 1,900 Junior ROTC instructors, who
teach at 869 school units throughout the world,
finished their initial instructor training here
last week.
Jo Alice Talley, chief of JROTC instructor management
at Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools,
said the newly hired instructors were here to learn
about unit management and teaching skills and procedures.
Greg Winn, deputy director of Air Force JROTC,
said the two weeks of instruction also are provided
to change the instructor's mindset from military
to a high school environment.
 "An instructor's job requires a completely different
focus," he said. "That's why many of the speakers
we have for the initial training have doctorates
in education. This helps with the mental transformation."
Mr. Winn said the mission of JROTC is not recruiting,
but to build "citizens of character" for the community.
He said the feedback from teachers, parents and
students indicates it is, "a great program that
truly makes a difference in the lives of the 105,416
cadets currently enrolled in JROTC."
For those interested in becoming an instructor
now or further down the road, Ms. Talley said instructors
must be retired military from any Air Force specialty
with at least 20 years of active duty and have
good morale character.
"We accept retired technical sergeants to chief
master sergeants on the enlisted side, and captains
through colonels on the officer side," she said. "Officers
have to have a bachelor's degree, and enlisted
members have to complete an associate's degree
within five years of being hired for JROTC duty."
Ms. Talley said the fact that Airmen can come from
any specialty is important because it allows anyone
who is qualified to join JROTC.
Among others, she has retired chaplains, dentists
and astronauts working as JROTC instructors. She
said AFOATS does not have a budget for recruiting
instructors, so she uses any and all military publications
when possible, and the instructors themselves are
great at passing the word to friends and former
colleagues about the benefits of being an instructor.
She said she is always looking for female and minority
members to be instructors because these are the
two fastest growing groups of JROTC cadets. Ms.
Talley said, at present, minorities comprise 53
percent of JROTC students and females comprise
43 percent of the cadets, but, for example, only
five percent of the instructors are female.
She said all instructors actually work for the
school system in the areas in which they teach,
and a member's retirement pay is supplemented by
the local school board or district. With the retirement
pay, the amount an instructor is paid is the same
sum the member would receive if on active duty.
Ms. Talley said the rule of thumb is that a person
has to join the JROTC ranks within five years of
retirement, but waivers can be arranged for up
to 10 years after retirement, and Air National
Guard and Reserve members can now participate in
the program.
She said before a change in the law governing JROTC
occurred in October 2006, it was impossible to
figure a base salary because Guard and Reserve
members were not eligible for retirement pay until
they were 60 years old.
She also stressed there is no age limit regarding
JROTC instructors.
Mr. Winn said the JROTC program has been in operation
since 1966, when it opened at 20 schools.
He said today, 48 states and Department of Defense
schools in 9 foreign countries are involved in
the program. Only Idaho and Montana do not participate
due to the small size of the high schools in those
states.
Mr. Winn said the program maintains a "fill rate" of
between 96 and 97 percent for instructor positions,
but that still leaves 50 to 60 vacancies for both
retired enlisted members and retired officers.
Anyone interested in becoming involved in JROTC
should call Ms. Talley at 1-866-235-7682, ext.
7742, or e-mail her at junior.rotc@maxwell.af.mil.
The AFOATS
Web site has a link to access the
AFJROTC page.
"There is a really great video on the Web, done
by Air University Television, that really tells
the JROTC story," Ms. Talley said.
SOURCE:
VNIS
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