CONGRESSWOMAN SYLVIA GARCIA LEADS LETTER TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE URGING STRENGTHENED OVERSIGHT OF JROTC PROGRAMS

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), along with Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14), led 35 of their colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Defense (DOD) requesting strengthened oversight of America's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JRTOC) and its instructors.

"Most instructors arrive to JROTC programs eager to motivate and educate our military's future leaders, but we must protect youth from predatory instructors who have betrayed their oath," said Congresswoman Garcia. "Data shows 1 in every 232 JROTC instructors have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with a student. This means they are accused 68% more frequently than civilian high school teachers. My hope is that we can improve JROTC programs for students, families, and honorable instructors by weeding out all cases of sexual misconduct towards children."

"For generations, JROTC high school students across America have grown and thrived in a program that is supposed to instill honor and discipline and encourage service to our country. But too many dreams have been dashed by sexual abuse at the hands of the senior military veterans who teach these classes. And the claims that a lack of oversight for these programs is somehow responsible for letting sexual predators run rampant among vulnerable children will not be accepted nor tolerated," said Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14), Chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. "The Defense Department must take immediate steps to protect JROTC students, improve vetting of instructors, and ensure this abuse is identified and addressed in order to prevent further misconduct and trauma."

The letter strongly urges the DOD to:

• Create a national database that would be shared with school districts during JROTC instructor recruitment that tracks all cases of reported sexual abuse by instructors
• Create a policy that directs schools to send at least two approved adults along on JROTC activities outside of school hours for added supervision
• Create a brief training for JROTC cadets that demonstrates appropriate instructor-to-student relationships and lists resources for cadets who need to report instructor misconduct anonymously
• Ensure trained professionals available on DOD sexual assault hotlines are equipped to handle cases involving minors
• Require new JROTC instructors to submit a background check from within the last 18 months
• Require JROTC instructors to be fully certified with administrative approval before beginning employment

Given the sensitive nature of this issue on JROTC cadets, the members requested a response from the DOD within 60 days or by Friday, December 2, 2022, on how the Department plans to implement/address these changes.

You can read the full letter