By JENNIFER ANDES
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army is expanding its Junior ROTC program at a time when the number of Americans who have served in the military has dropped to an all-time low, Army Secretary Louis Caldera said Friday.
The program expansion ``is not principally meant as a recruiting tool,'' Caldera said at a news conference. ``But it's important as fewer and fewer Americans ever have served in uniform.''
JROTC, founded in 1916, offers programs at 1,370 high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Caldera said.
Congress has approved the Army's plan to expand the program to 50 additional high schools every year for the next five years, for a total of 1,620 high schools. Half of all JROTC cadets are women and 40 percent pursue careers or reserve duty in the military, Caldera said.
``If the Congress will let us do more, we'll do more,'' Caldera said. The government pays for uniforms and equipment and the schools match the cost of the $100 million annual program, primarily by paying salaries for instructors, all of whom are retired officers and noncommissioned officers, he said.
The program's expansion ``will make an important difference in the lives of thousands and thousands of young people,'' said retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
JROTC teaches the 230,000 young people involved in the program to believe in
themselves and that hard work and an education will get them ahead in life,
he said.