This class is all about education

I am 16 years old and am a member of the Arlington High School Air Force JROTC. I would like to respond to and correct the statements made in the Saturday letter, “Fund education, not the military.”

First, the writer called the AFJROTC an Army camp and a recruiting program. It is neither! This is a class that stresses aerospace science, leadership training and physical well being. I enrolled in this class of my own free will and have no obligation to enlist in the military after I graduate. It is the writer’s opinion that Arlington should become more like San Francisco and “dump” the JROTC programs from the schools. It is my opinion that Arlington should not follow San Francisco in this regard (or any other that I can think of).

The writer tried to make a link between this program and poor WASL results. Ridiculous! Since joining AFROTC, my GPA has gone from a 2.0 to a 3.5. “Develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community.” This is the mission statement for the program. The Air Force core values are: integrity first, service before self, excellence in all that we do. Our Honor Code is: I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate anyone who does. I have applied these principles to my daily life. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

The writer said, “I will be happy to support the school system again, when it is used 100 percent for education.” Well, it is!

Jerome C. Dunn