AFJROTC has expanded throughout the years, starting in 1916 at Leavenworth High School. There are a total of 3,275 units in the United States, Army being the most prominent, with a whopping 1,600 units. Each unit has to have at least 100 “cadets” to stay a distinguished unit, and each unit has to have a minimum of 1,000 total hours of community service.

Thanks to the GI bill, a bill passed in 1944, all veterans and current service members get free education, that includes all 5 military branches. College ROTC can supply a military future that can increase both rank, and pay grade.

Very few high schools can get the AFJROTC program, which is a program meant to teach about future life skills, and discipline. Each program has two instructors, a Senior Aerospace Science Instructor (SASI), and an Aerospace Science Instructor (ASI). 

LSHS’s very own Sergeant Todd Holbert is the ASI for Lee’s Summit High School, he’s done a very good job overviewing and maintaining our ROTC unit. He has had some military experience as well, doing over 20 years in the Air Force.

There have been plenty of people to receive educational scholarships through ROTC as well. Take LSHS Alumni Andrew Huggins for example, he graduated last year and received a scholarship to go to a flight school in Utah, which is estimated around 100,000 dollars.

There are other scholarships like this, but not as big as that one, such as: the “Leadership” scholarship, where the military will reward an individual that has held a leadership position for at least a year with 3,375 dollars. Each year, representatives from military corporations come to an award ceremony for Jrotc and get students who have excelled both physically and educationally.