MLHS aiming for Air Force JROTC

MOSES LAKE — If everything goes right, Moses Lake High School (MLHS) will have an Air Force Junior ROTC program in place by the fall of 2018.

According to MLHS Assistant Principal Kay Sidwell, the school has been considering an ROTC program for some time, but is pursuing the Air Force over the Army because of this town’s historic links and the Air Force’s focus on science and technology.

“We’ve chosen the Air Force because of our history, and it has a STEM program that goes with it,” Sidwell said, noting as well the program’s leadership training and physical education.

“When we started this, we had students contact us immediately,” she said.

MLHS officials submitted a fairly detailed application and along with school board members and community leaders met recently with Col. Pete Grey, who leads the Air Force’s Junior ROTC program in the western United States. According to Sidwell, this would be the first time MLHS has had any kind of a JROTC program.

Junior ROTC (JROTC) is designed to help high schoolers and middle schoolers learn “citizenship, promote community service, instill personal responsibility, character, and self-discipline,” according to a message on the Air Force’s JROTC web site. Students who enroll are under no obligation to join the military

In order to host an Air Force JROTC program, Moses Lake High School needs a room for classes, a place to store equipment, a minimum of 100 interested students, community support, and at least one suitable retired Air Force officer willing to teach classes and command the cadets.

“There are three local folks who are interested,” Sidwell said.

It helps if an application comes from an “underrepresented” state like Washington, according to Scott Lewis, the deputy director of the Air Force’s JROTC program at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.

“All of those are positives,” Lewis said. “Units that are the most successful are those that have strong community support.”

While Lewis said the level of community and civic support for Air Force JROTC in Moses Lake was impressive, the Secretary of the Air Force will still make the final decision next year.

“This is a really good thing,” said Moses Lake School Board Member Eric Stones. “Kids can learn respect and discipline, and the military is good at teaching skills.”

Stones said he was impressed by the amount of support in the community for Air Force JROTC.

“At its foundation, this is an Air Force town,” Stones said, referring to Larson Air Force Base, which closed 50 years ago. “Why would we even consider the Army?”