NOVATO JROTC UNIT FIGHTS FOR LIFE

The Novato, CA Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) unit is in danger of closing because of low enrollments.

CDR John Sammons, USPHS (RET), Council Secretary and a member of Marin County Chapter, is working hard to save the unit.

“I just attended a meeting…to discuss the future of the AFJROTC Unit,” Sammons writes in a recent memo. “As you might know they have just hired LtCol Hiroshi Yamaguchi to be the senior instructor. He is faced with a formidable task of getting his enrollment up to 100 ASAP.”

“The State Budget crunch is impacting the schools to a greater extent than previous and they are critically evaluating all programs which, of course, includes the JROTC Program. There is an $80,000 difference between what the district receives from the AF and what the program costs. I have asked for auditable figures to verify that and will get them tomorrow PM (11 February 2008), he continued.”

John provided some history. “Five years ago when this happened we started - Building Better Citizens for America to raise funds and make the program as close to revenue neutral for the district as possible - we accomplished that and the program remained viable,” he noted. “Because we no longer thought it necessary we dissolved the corporation and relinquished our Tax ID number. To restart this effort now would take too much time - which we don’t have.”

Here’s the basic situation: “Now the unit is confronted by two different but equally critical problems. Because of the low enrollment the AF has placed the unit on probation and has given it academic year 2008 - 2009 to get the enrollment to 100. Col Yamaguchi is tackling this problem and tJan has asked me to tackle the funding issue. Which I have agreed to do. Right now I am looking for a 501 (c) 3 that will be willing to accept any funds that are raised and then
disburse them to the District. The tax deduction is critical.”

Donations are really needed. “The plan is to ask all the service clubs, fraternal organizations, veterans groups etc to pledge at least $500 but would like more so that I can announce to the school board on February 27 that after a couple of weeks that we raised XXX dollars and are just getting started, Sammons explained. “After just three telephone calls this afternoon I have $1000 in pledges from private citizens.

A letter that will go to the Air Force on Monday (11 February 2008) which details some of the activities planned and provides a good history of the unit and its turmoil is reproduced below.

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Colonel Richard J Ragaller, USAF
Director, Air Force JROTC
551 East Maxwell Boulevard
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6106

Re: Novato California JROTC Program CA-011

Dear Colonel Ragaller;

I am a retired Navy Commander who has been an active supporter of this unit since 1999.
Dr. Jan Derby forwarded me a copy of your letter to her and her response to you because of my close connection and work on behalf of the unit. I feel that I, as a private community supporter, must write you my opinions of what is impacting the unit and make you aware of how you can have a direct impact on the success of this program.

First of all, you must be aware that Marin County is one of the highest cost-of-living areas in the country, hence the difficulties in recruiting/retaining instructors. An additional issue that might have impacted the unit is the lack of military facilities in the Bay Area and the pervasive progressive/liberal attitudes within the community. This has not been overt; however, it is, most likely a contributing factor the low enrollment numbers.. With the employment of a San Francisco native Lt Col Yamaguchi, he can now visit our Middle Schools and the various Parent Teacher groups. Admittedly this outreach will not result in a “quick fix” but will pay off in the long term.

This small unit has had more than its share of turmoil. The departure of Colonel Steve Price in 1998 left CMSGT Pete Moore alone in charge of the unit until the arrival of Major James Bennett in 1999. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2003. For the last year of Major Bennett’s life, CMSGT Moore was left alone to run the unit. Major Pfeifer came aboard in March 2004 and served for two years before having to leave for higher paying employment that allowed him to live here. CMSGT Moore departed at the end of the 2005 school year and the unit was left with only one instructor. MSGT Muench came aboard in late 2005. After the departure of Major Pfeifer, MSGT Muench was alone until this month when Lt Col Yamaguchi reported in. This brief, rather convoluted, history of the unit is presented to familiarize you with what has happened over the past few years. It is important for you to know that the Board of Trustees and the community, especially the service clubs and veterans groups, never wavered in their support for the unit. The fundraising effort discussed later was necessary to make the program revenue neutral to the school district. There was never any question that the school district supported the unit but financial constraints placed on the district by the reduction of funding from the state required that every program on the curriculum be critically evaluated for viability.

There is significant support for the program by the School Trustees as well as the community. When the school district confronted a significant budget crisis, the community rallied in support of the program and raised sufficient funds to make the program essentially revenue neutral to the district. We are prepared to do this again should it be required. The cadets are respected throughout the community for their community service. Every other week the cadets provide a Color Guard for the Naturalization Ceremony in San Francisco and on the USS Hornet. Just to attend one of these ceremonies is moving but to see the new citizens interacting with the cadets makes a definite impression.

MSGT Rich Muench commutes daily from Fairfield a distance of some 50 miles. As you are aware there are numerous community events that occur on weekends and he makes every one. He has been the only instructor for 18 months and has performed admirably. Unfortunately, he was simply unable to carry out his normal teaching duties while expending the effort needed in this community to recruit students, which has been, for the most part, the reason that, although growing, the unit enrollment has not yet met expectations. With the addition of Lt Col Yamaguchi, a San Francisco native, we believe they now have the staff needed to thrive.

Novato Unified School District has two high schools. Novato High School, where the unit is located and is the larger of the two schools, and San Marin High School.. The schools are located 3.5 miles apart. Clearly the student population at San Marin could not support a separate unit and intra-district transfers are not possible under current budget constraints.

I am aware that there is a directive that prohibits the instructors from offering classes at San Marin. I would encourage you to consider relaxing this stricture to allow this. Best estimate at this time, based on historic data, is that the unit could pick up at least 20 cadets. Currently, their only option is to attend ROTC at school across town for which there is no transportation for students whose parents are at work. Even for some who can drive, California law prohibits them from taking other teens as passengers. We are grappling with the transportation issue at the same time that the instructors are soliciting students at San Marin. If, for a limited period of time while building the participation at San Marin High School, the students could attend a class on their own campus, the recruitment efforts may be more successful. After we have a large enough number of cadets at San Marin, transportation will become cost efficient, and the group can then join the classes at Novato High School.

The community realizes that placing the unit on probation for the Academic Year 2008 – 2009 is possibly the last time that the unit will get a reprieve and stands ready to work with the School District to increase enrollment and take whatever means at our disposal to secure the viability of the program. We sincerely hope that you can allow classes to be offered at San Marin High School on a temporary basis. It is our opinion that this will result in sufficient cadets to approach, if not exceed, the 100 cadet minimum. The arrival of Lt Col Yamaguchi will allow both instructors to conduct outreach and recruiting while offering the best experience possible for the existing cadets..

Sincerely,

John H. Sammons

cc: Dr Jan LaTorre-Derby, Superintendent NUSD
Mr. Rey Mayoral, Principal NHS
LtCol Hiroshi Yamagu

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