The mission of the United States Air ... - Air University

The mission of the United States Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) is to “Develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community.” Our Title 10 USC, congressionally mandated program offers a broad array of citizenship, leadership, academic, aviation, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics), and related co-curricular opportunities for cadets. The Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development staff and support personnel, along with AFJROTC instructors, school superintendents, principals, administrators, and cadets directly and collectively

contribute to this crucial endeavor. The unique partnership between the Air Force and school districts across the US and overseas and our shared goal to develop citizens of character for America is critical to not only inspiring the next generations but realizing the mission of AFJROTC. We believe there is no greater outreach tool than AFJROTC to inspire youth toward Service, and Aviation as well as STEM related careers.

The AFJROTC program is a highly effective, inclusive, diverse, and very popular program that not only succeeds in developing citizens of character for America, but it is truly unique in its scope given the over 120,000 participating cadets which is over 1/3 the size of the regular Air Force in our high school citizenship program. The “actual presence” versus “virtual” presence of AFJROTC units and cadets as well as daily outreach and outreach potential in close to 900 communities across the United States and overseas is of great value to the Air Force and directly aligns with Air University’s (AU) third strategic line of operation to “Improve integration and outreach” which is derived from the USAF Strategic Master Plan. Specifically, AFJROTC meets AU objective 3.2.5 – “Increase engagement, expand influence and build trust with communities and constituencies.” (AU Strategic Plan – September 2015, p.25). Each year, AFJROTC cadets accomplish over 1.6 million hours of community service which also generates tremendous goodwill toward the Air Force and establishes lasting connections with communities the Air Force serves, many of which are not near US military bases. AFJROTC cadets truly are the “Face of the Air Force” in hundreds of communities all across the US and overseas.

There are many opportunities offered to our high school cadets through this program. We believe the young men and women of AFJROTC who boldly reach for and dedicate themselves fully to achieving these opportunities will gain the knowledge, self-discipline, patriotism, sense of responsibility, and responsiveness to constituted authority which will better prepare them for a successful life and future. Our program enables cadets to better serve their country as productive citizens, leaders, and in military service should they decide to take that career path.

This Strategic Plan charts a thoughtful and deliberate path necessary to develop such citizens and leaders and articulates the support required to maintain an inclusive, diverse, and highly impactful program for America. We expect our Air Force JROTC program to foster and instill in cadets, the Air Force’s Core Values of “Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do.”

Colonel Bobby C. Woods, Jr. Director, Air Force Junior ROTC

AFJROTC Strategic Plan 2017 - 2021 3

Our Mission “Develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community.”

Our PurposeInstill in students the value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, character, and a sense of accomplishment. To make the greatest positive impact in the lives of our cadets as possible. This is perfectly encapsulated in our motto: “Building Better Citizens for America.”

Our Vision Statement Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) will provide a quality citizenship, character, and leadership development program, while fostering enduring partnerships and relationships with high schools, educational institutions, and communities that help meet our citizen development mission.

Vision to Reality• Develop Citizens of Character.• Seek to Restore Stable and Required Programmatic Funding.• Optimize HQ Manning and Organizational Structure.• Recruit, Train, and Retain a Quality Instructor Corps.• Maintain a Quality, Current, Focused and Fully Accredited

Curriculum. • Provide Quality, Timely, and Customer Focused HQ Support and

Guidance.• Develop an Outreach, Program Marketing, and Communications

Plan.• Leverage Technology Solutions.• Strengthen Program in a Resource Constrained Environment.


DEVELOP CITIZENS OF CHARACTEROur intent is to instill in students the value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, character, and give a sense of accomplishment while balancing enrollment and a quality cadet corps. The importance of community service and communicating the importance of cadets giving back and being part of something greater than themselves is a critical component in our citizen development mission. The “life lessons” taught, practiced, and reinforced through the program on service, leadership, teamwork, hard work, commitment, and positive attitude will make our cadets better citizens and help to make them successful in whatever occupation they choose following high school. All resources and energy will be solely directed at accomplishing the mission of AFJROTC and strengthening this very impactful program.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Promote and sustain a citizenship development and leadership program that

helps prepare our youth for a successful life and career after high school. • Instill in students a feeling of ownership and pride regarding country,

community, school, and unit as well as the American freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

• Promote an understanding and value of a life lived with the Air Force core values of Integrity, Service, and Excellence.

• Inspire our cadets to Service, Aviation, and STEM related careers. • Utilize world-class curriculum for classroom and critical co-curricular activities

to provide hands-on experiential or “immersive learning” tools to reinforce classroom concepts.

• Recognize unit and individual cadet community service efforts.

SEEK TO RESTORE STABLE AND REQUIRED PROGRAM FUNDING

Though JROTC is a congressionally mandated, Title 10 program, AFJROTC has a history of an unstable budget, funding issues, and a constant struggle to justify sufficient program funding that is responsive to unit needs and is consistent with congressional intent regarding program operation and oversight. Securing the funding provided by Congress specifically for the AFJROTC program is critical to mission accomplishment and success.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Secure the funding required to move beyond a classroom only program.• Secure funding for 12-month Instructor Contract support.


• Request funding for growth to 939 AFJROTC units, the OASD desired minimum number of units for the Air Force based on Total Obligation Authority.

• Continue work toward congressional guidance regarding a “fair and equitable” geographic distribution of AFJROTC units.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:• Annually revise and submit the needed O&M/MILPER budget mix through

the budget process/POM cycle.• Implement paperless GPC process that is responsive to unit needs and

supports cadet enrollment, retention, and education.• Maintain a unit funding methodology and expenditure automated tracking

system that is user friendly and timely.• Maintain an accurate FINPLAN and secure the execution budget that fully

funds all programatic requirements.• Develop an expansion/sustainment plan to maintain mandated unit numbers

(no less than 870 units) that stays within projected budget baselines.• Focus future unit recruiting specifically in “under-subscribed” (under-

represented) states utilizing our already established new unit application process.

• Develop a budgeting process that recognizes the differential between the Fiscal Year, Calendar Year, School Year, and unit resource timeline requirements.

OPTIMIZE HQ MANNING AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTUREReorganize the Headquarters staff to better serve and to improve service to our schools, units, instructors, and cadets. We will work to attract, retain, and professionally develop a responsive, knowledgeable, friendly, customer focused HQ staff. A small HQ staff dictates our organizational structure must be fully optimized to provide the needed and appropriate customer support and program oversight.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Work toward civilianizing the HQ staff to provide needed long-term continuity.

» All other JROTC HQs are fully civilian staffed (Army O-6 over Army JROTC).

» Seek ways to swap 10 of 11 military positions to civilian positions (Director will remain Active Duty O-6).


• Move from 7 Regional Directors to 10 Region Director qualified personnel given Unit Evaluation (UE) volume each school year (320-350 UEs per year).

• Redistribute 6 Regions to reflect geographic regions allowing the potential for a small number of Telecommute Regional Directors. The additional RD qualified personnel provide floaters and an overall reduced average workload.

• Re-write Position Descriptions (PDs) to appropriately capture all needed tasks currently being performed that are not captured in outdated PDs and reflect current structure.

» Support Division (JRS), Operations Division (JRO), & Instructor Management (JRI).

• Realize a permanent civilian manpower solution to fully support centralized HQ AFJROTC GPC/Financial Management function.

• Seek to return first line AFJROTC functions to HQ AFJROTC to include: finance, curriculum, and communications that interact daily with instructors and school administrators.

RECRUIT, TRAIN, AND RETAIN A QUALITY INSTRUCTOR CORPSWe will attract, certify, and retain a qualified AFJROTC instructor applicant pool and workforce IAW Public Law, DODI, and Holm Center Instructions. We will deliver a quality initial JROTC Instructor Certification Course (JICC) that prepares AFJROTC instructors to effectively teach in the secondary school environment. We will make all efforts to bring instructors back to JICC after a failing Unit Evaluation to provide them the necessary tools to correct any identified discrepancies and to improve instructor performance.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE:• Continually enhance our ability to attract top-quality retired commissioned

and noncommissioned officers to become AFJROTC instructors.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:• Develop a quality all-encompassing recruiting process.• Leverage existing DoD/Air Force websites to communicate program awareness

and instructor vacancies.• Develop strategies for targeted recruiting for hard-to-fill vacancies.

» Effectively integrate social media in our targeted advertisement efforts. • Execute a world-class, annual JROTC Instructor Certification Course.


• Enhance the instructor awards program to ensure our top instructors are recognized for their contributions to their cadets, schools, and communities.

• Create a surplus of qualified applicants.

MAINTAIN A QUALITY, CURRENT, FOCUSED AND FULLY ACCREDITED CURRICULUM

Develop a nationally recognized and fully independently accredited cadet curriculum that is current, credible, and relevant to citizenship and leadership development. Course materials educate and train high school cadets in citizenship; leadership; health and wellness, and provide instruction in air and space sciences.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Maintain full program national accreditation (that includes all AFJROTC

curriculum). • Develop relationships with national and state organizations to advance

AFJROTC and meet the needs of the state school requirements.• Seek more than elective course credit where possible.• Continue to leverage credible and relevant technology to deliver curriculum

to students, schools, districts, and state agencies.• Modernize curriculum updates/delivery to keep material current and relevant.• Develop a comprehensive curriculum assessment system to validate program

requirements and ensure balance between curriculum and integrated curricular and critical co-curricular activities.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:

• Communicate the importance of the US Constitution which guarantees all individual American freedoms.

• Correlate the rights and responsibilities of citizenship to the purposes of US government.

• Relate events in US history to choices and responsibilities Americans have today.

• Characterize the role of the military and other national service organizations in building a democracy and maintaining peace in a democratic society.

• Apply physical and political geography to building global awareness.• Maximize potential for cadet success through learning and personal cadet

responsibility, utilizing classroom and critical co-curricular activities.


• Develop cadet citizenship and leadership skills.• Incorporate principles of mental and physical wellness into cadet behaviors

and decisions.• Build effective relationships with peers, co-workers, and community.

PROVIDE QUALITY, TIMELY, AND CUSTOMER FOCUSED, HQ SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE

Ensure all information and communications are clear, consistent, courteous, professional, and systems are cohesive, and mutually supportive. We must provide a well-organized and trained HQ staff to support the execution of the JROTC program.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Provide clear and timely guidance, as well as clear expectations to units.• Hold units, instructors, schools, and ourselves (HQ) accountable for all

requirements. • Optimize HQ manning to realize quality, timely, and customer focused HQ

support and guidance.• Develop and advertise a master “Headquarters Battle Rhythm” for operations.• Utilize an efficient/effective/iterative and timely policy guidance process.• Create a simplified and consolidated organization of instructions, policy, and

guidance that is easily accessible for all instructors and HQ staff.• Review, revise, and upgrade AFJROTC Instructions to meet the changing

demands mandated by state and national level policies. Our basis is Title 10 and the DODI.

• Ensure program requirements/issues are responded to in a timely manner by competent staff.

• Ensure HQ staff is knowledgeable and fully integrated and familiar with unit operations.

• Create a user friendly responsive logistics system.• HQ will conduct all Government Purchase Card purchases for units.• Develop/Deliver “Cadet Access” to AFJROTC data base, allowing cadets ability

to work within their functional areas. • Streamline process for disposal of unserviceable or inoperative unit

equipment.


• Reduce obligation for providing ADPE equipment to units as a general policy unless school needs or requests this support.

• Improve and expand formal feedback mechanism for units or instructors.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:• Achieve and maintain an optimized, effective, adequately staffed structure.• Annually review and adjust instructions and HQ guidance as necessary to

clarify and maintain currency, relevancy, and to eliminate inconsistencies or areas of possible confusion.

• Maintain state-of-the-art IT curriculum delivery capabilities. • Validate program requirements to achieve the right balance between

curriculum and integrated curricular activities.

DEVELOP AN OUTREACH, MARKETING, AND COMMUNICATIONS PLAN We will develop a public affairs outreach program that extends to internal and external audiences that clearly communicates the value of the program with the goal of increased advocacy and support for AFJROTC. AFJROTC inspires cadets to service, aviation, and STEM careers, as well as the Air Force. The ability of AFJROTC to accomplish the outreach objective in the USAF Strategic Master Plan, is unique given the scope and reach of the AFJROTC high school Citizenship program.

“We will demonstrate the Air Force purpose and culture to a broader U.S. audience. Flight, innovation and the spirit of adventure and discovery have always captured the public’s imagination. We are an aerospace-minded nation. We need to capitalize on opportunities to reclaim public excitement and interest by leading or partnering in high-profile, competitive endeavors. . . . We will strengthen our partnerships . . . [and] . . . increase public exposure to Airmen and Air Force capabilities. Highlighting our heritage, culture, and mission in popular media and events will increase public awareness of the Air Force and inspire a new generation of Americans.”

—USAF Strategic Master Plan

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Establish a national AFJROTC marketing campaign to publicize outstanding

unit and cadet contributions to the nation and community that will garner increased support for AFJROTC.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:• Get our positive message out--program success and impacts, lives changed,

and lives saved!• Communicate value, impact, and contributions of the program to the Air

Force.


• Communicate results of yearly Principal’s Survey.• Garner Senior Officer and Congressional support and advocacy.• Seek ways to further engage in direct parental outreach about the program. • Leverage positive program impacts and successes.• Maintain, track, and publicize program performance measurements (e.g.,

Intentions of Graduates, Program Status Report, Unit Evaluation (UE) results, etc.).

• Develop partnerships with industries to showcase AFJROTC cadets’ achievements in the area of workforce and character development.

• Leverage the resources and opportunities that partners with associations and industries would provide.

• Fully promote the AFJROTC.com site as an AFJROTC information, success, impacts, and messaging tool.

LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONSTechnology upgrades and enhancements are critical to program operation given the very small HQ size (31 authorized personnel) to manage approximately 2,000 instructors, 890+ units, and over 120,000 cadets.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Provide a viable and effective information exchange network.• Upgrade, enhance and leverage technology to offset small HQ size. • Monitor, assess, and enhance the curriculum and teaching strategies to ensure

they take full advantage of the latest appropriate teaching IT capabilities.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:• Continually pursue state-of-the-art technology for the entire program.• Synchronize modernization and fielding of IT capability with curriculum

changes.• Implement a Virtual Vacancy Management fully automated vacancy process

from initial application to applying for unit vacancies.• Provide simple, reliable, technology enhancements intended to reduce

workload and increase efficiency at the headquarters and unit level. • Develop a Unit Dashboard/Unit Health Tool to track all key unit information.• Fully implement “Cadet Access” in IT application tool(s).• Fully consolidate and advertise all HQ taskers (deadlines) for units and

instructors.


STRENGTHEN PROGRAM IN A RESOURCE CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENT

Maximize use of available funding and resources that help to strengthen the AFJROTC program. HQ will analyze every decision by asking “if it strengthens the overall program” and examine how every decision does or does not accomplish that goal. Proper execution of strategy requires establishment of clear priorities. Our priorities will appropriately drive resource investments of time, effort, money, and personnel. Consequently, it’s imperative that our limited resources be invested first in those tasks determined to be most critical to success. We will continue to ensure all AFJROTC host schools are aware of Title 10 requirements and standards and strive to meet the established requirements.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:• Grow in under-represented states (using normal attrition) to seek “fair and

equitable” distribution of programs across the nation.• Modernize program, communicate importance of Co-curricular activities as

“immersive learning tools” that reinforce classroom and program concepts.• Continue to conduct robust and honest Unit Evaluation (UE) program to

ensure compliance. • Conduct proper program oversight by ensuring program viability standards

are tracked and monitored, as well as unit probations, instructor probations, Unit Evaluation Action Plans, school and unit compliance, etc.

• Design, implement and support model programs for meeting and exceeding Federal and State standards.

• Ensure programs are respected and recognized by school and communities.• Develop a program that attracts and retains highly motivated students.

SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES:• Promote STEM related objectives and partnerships to increase opportunity

awareness of high school cadets toward critical STEM careers and service careers after high school.

• Continue to fund equitable cadet participation alternatives (co-curricular activities) to include summer Cadet Leadership Courses.

• Continue to request required resources and POM for all programmatic needs to include co-curricular cadet activities in the out years.

• Develop and deliver recruiting best practices for instructors to use to attract quality cadets from middle schools.


MEASURES• Measures are a critical element of any strategic planning and

execution process. They guide action and provide senior leaders with easy-to-use indicators of progress in the attainment of assigned objectives.

• AFJROTC will utilize a robust Unit Evaluation program and Continuous Process Improvement tools to improve the program and move our organization in a positive direction.

SUMMARYThe strategic plan establishes AFJROTC’s vision, mission and objectives and the actions critical to program success. The objectives guide actions across the program. They are specific, action-oriented, realistic, time-driven and can be measured with relevant, results-based metrics. It’s imperative that our limited resources be prioritized and invested first in those tasks determined to be most critical to success. This strategy outlines those priorities. Because this plan is a living document, AFJROTC will refine the goals and objectives as necessary in execution. This strategic plan also charts a thoughtful and deliberate path necessary to accomplish the mission to “Develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community.” This plan articulates the requirements to maintain and enhance an inclusive, diverse, and highly impactful program for America.

The mission of the United States Air ... - Air University

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