AFJROTC is a program at West High School that takes up a lot of time.  

“I probably spend about 50 hours a week on ROTC,” Jeffrey said. The students and teachers spend time in the morning before school, during class, and on some Saturdays just practicing drill, color guard, and some doing their jobs. They also spend 15 hours or more a semester doing volunteer work.

These students are taught to treat everyone they meet with respect and to be honest, even when nobody is around to see or paying attention. They are also taught that as long as you are trying your hardest you are succeeding. ROTC hold students to standards like keeping groomed, having natural hair colors, being honest, working hard, and wearing uniform properly once a week on uniform day.

The male students are to have their hair cut short and off their ears, a clean shaved face or a clean cut mustache. The female students hair has to be long enough to put up in a bun.

Their hair also has to be one solid natural color. On uniform day they have to have their uniform nice and neat with their hair in regulation. As for earrings, guys are not allowed to wear them and girsl are only allowed to wear one set that has to be small. “I like uniform a lot, the only thing I don’t like about it is trying to sit down comfortably,” Salvador said. Kids help each other with their uniforms so that they are wearing them correctly and can get a good grade.

The students and teachers also help each other out in many different ways like getting rides to drill in the morning or to events for ROTC. They also listen to each other’s problems and help each other solve them. When you feel like you have nobody who cares you always have ROTC people, Colonel, Sargent and the students. “My favorite part about teaching ROTC is probably when students are struggling or are having a rough day they come talk to you and they walk away with a smile on their face. It makes you feel like you helped somebody.” Sargent Ullom said. Also in ROTC they do different things almost every day. It’s a class where the students can take over and teach.

It’s not always sitting there and listening the to teacher lecture. You get to get up and be active. You do Physical Training on certain days, you practice drill, play games to keep active and command fallout, another game, you get to build rockets too. And all this stuff rotc does can help you become a better and fit person along with helping you get elective and needed credits like gym and science. Rotc is an active class and is always looking for students who are interested in these kind of things. “We are always looking for student who wants to join,” Seargent Ullom said.