It is with a deep sense of pride and genuine concern for each and every individual student that the Military Instructors, working through the Mac Arthur High School Principal, welcome the young men and women of Houston, Texas to the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC).

While it appears necessary to underscore that a high school student does not incur an obligation for future military service by virtue of enrolling in JROTC, it is equally essential to highlight some of the many advantages that accrue to the young people who take this course of instruction.

The JROTC Program, like academic courses in English, history, and mathematics, offers the student credit toward a high school diploma. JROTC cadets receive instruction in a variety of worthwhile subjects not available in other aspects of school curriculum - subjects that have application in all walks of life. Cadets have the challenge and accompanying satisfaction of assuming responsibility in their formative years. They learn basic military procedures the first year of study, then take the responsibility of leadership and teach the procedures during the succeeding years. They plan and direct unit training, make decisions on matters pertaining to personnel and discipline, and assume command responsibilities. Young people training in the business sector must wait years to gain many of these experiences and to exercise this type of authority.

Those students who are now, or who may later come to lean toward a military career will find that participation in JROTC gives them an advantage in applying for a college ROTC scholarship or for admittance to one of the United States' military academies. Additionally, a young person who has applied himself well in JROTC and who may choose to enter one of the military services, to include the National Guard, may enter at one or two grades and pay scales higher than one who has not participated in JROTC.

The Military Instructors are unbending in their conviction to citizenship, scholarship, leadership, and believe that each and every individual is important to themselves, their families, their school, community, state, and nation. Such is the prime focus of the Cocoa High School JROTC Program. We wish each of you a highly successful school year.