Visit Our Website
JROTC Website
JROTC
The RPS 205 JROTC Program – or Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps – at Auburn High School is one of the oldest and most robust JROTC programs in the nation.
Our Gold Star program scores in the upper 10 percent of national joint program of accreditation standards. The program is one of the many academies offered in RPS 205 – and it is only offered at Auburn High School.
We have an Auburn JROTC alumni who is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, and another alumni who went on to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. Other Auburn JROTC alumni have been commissioned as active duty second lieutenants through the Western Illinois University and Wheaton College ROTC programs, and others have accepted four-year full-ride national and state ROTC scholarships.
The JROTC program at Auburn High School is open to all high school students who live within RPS 205 boundaries.
Important Contacts
SENIOR ARMY INSTRUCTOR
MSG McMullen
Why Join Auburn's JROTC
We have an established scholarship and mentorship program. This program trains and mentors our cadets, parents and/or guardians in the scholarship process. Through this program, at least one cadet is accepted for a military scholarship (and/or a military funded academic program) annually.
Most JROTC programs have one state university ROTC sponsor. We have two! We are sponsored by both Northern Illinois University and Western Illinois University!
Many of our former cadets choose to go on to enlist in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps (or Reserve or National Guard) with a goal of having their college and/or trade school education paid for through honorable service.
High school academics are fundamental to success in JROTC. We have multiple cadets selected for in- and out-of-state university academic scholarships. We have a former cadet Battalion Commander who was selected for a full-ride academic scholarship to the Illinois Institute of Technology; another in 2019 was accepted for a full-ride academic scholarship at the University of Alabama. This year a cadet earned a scholarship to the NIU ROTC program.
JROTC cadets enjoy community service opportunities. Through collaboration with registered veteran organizations, we participate in honor guard, color guard and service learning events. In 2019, cadets participated in Rockford's Veterans Memorial Circle beautification project. Cadets also march in Rockford's annual Memorial Day parade every year.
Cadets can earn a varsity letter for participating in color guard, outdoor sport and adventure raider team, drum line and marksmanship rifle team. Students compete in at least seven rifle tournaments each year and have qualified for the national competition since 2016.
Instructors pass on senior military education skills and techniques to cadets. Cadets learn public speaking and communication, meeting management, mission command doctrine, military decision making process, decision matrices, operational analysis and center of gravity analysis. These skill sets are highly valued as leadership and management tools in the civilian sector.
We train our cadets to be leaders and trainers. Cadets lead many of our classes.