The Commander's Interview Samuel Edmund William Planck

I sit on a chair outside of the Staff Office, and examine myself in the floor-length mirror provided us for the inspection. Picking out minor flaws, I adjust my medal and my ribbon bars, each a sign of an accomplishment over my few years in the program, ranging from perfect attendance to academic achievement on tests. Slowly, I begin to reminisce about the past few years, and what JROTC has taught me.

I was a rebellious kid, one who accepted no authority other than my own, questioning everyone who claimed to have a reason to order me around. At the same time, I was shy and awkward with my peers. I only took JROTC as a class to escape the horrors of freshman PE. But soon after I entered the classroom, I was mesmerized by the program. I was taken in by the pageantry of the military style and the suaveness that the uniform gave the cadets. Before long, I had memorized the Cadet’s Creed, and assumed a position of leadership as a Squad Leader, the head of a small group of about 10 other students. I spent all of my spare time in the JROTC classroom. I abandoned the “teen lit” books I had been reading and began studying the Cadet Reference Pamphlet and our textbook in every moment I had free, as well as the writings of the military...