Volunteers :: National Military Role Model

Army Recruiter Journal Article

Recruiter Journal Article – JANMR

Army/Junior Achievement program—a win-win partnership

The Junior Achievement National Military Role Model Program (JANMR) is a partnership between the Army and Junior Achievement (JA) that provides recruiters with opportunities to enter high schools and mentor students. MG Evan R. Gaddis, USAREC Commanding General, officially launched JANMR on 12 July when he signed a MOU with JA. The event was the highlight of the JA National Leadership Conference in Charlotte, NC.

The new program benefits both parties. Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization that prepares students for the world of work by providing a series of lessons on various subjects pertaining to today’s work environment. Examples of the subjects recruiters may teach are success skills, leadership, and career development. JA reaches nearly 8 million students through 164 JA offices nationwide and in nearly 100 countries worldwide. While participation in JANMR is voluntary, USAREC is confident that recruiters will realize the invaluable opportunities this program provides to "reconnect with America."

JA maintains full- and part-time employees, but it relies on volunteers to teach the lessons to school students. Recruiters possess presentation skills and life experiences, but want greater exposure in high schools. JANMR is mutually beneficial because JA gets its teachers, and recruiters get into high schools.

The US Army Cadet Command (USACC) is also partnered in JANMR, but their role differs from USAREC’s role. For example, JROTC students are volunteering to teach elementary school modules; and ROTC cadets on college campuses are teaching middle-school modules. USAREC recruiters teach only high school modules. National Guard and US Army Reserves are also expected to enter into JA partnerships later this year. Some individual units already participate.

The Army/JA affiliation has been researched and tested. In 1999, JANMR pilot programs were conducted in the Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio recruiting battalions. Interviews with recruiters who participated in the pilots indicate the program was well received and easy to implement. They also found the program helped increase access to high schools.

Here’s how the program works. JA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, but each of its regional offices is an individual franchise under the Junior Achievement, Inc. umbrella. This means that regional offices make a lot of their own decisions independent of JA headquarters. If the JA office in your area chooses to participate in JANMR, local JA personnel will first contact the battalion Education Services Specialist (ESS) to coordinate program activities. USAREC and JA both know the schools they work in. The ESS will help to identify the schools both parties have in common.

A&PA specialists will be involved in the promotional aspects of this program, such as reporting a JANMR success story to the Recruiter Journal. They will work with battalion commanders to coordinate teaching schedules during the school year. USAREC encourages company commanders to support JANMR participation, and to oversee the program operation in his/her unit.

Junior Achievement provides pre-packaged lesson plans, class materials, and instructor training by qualified JA personnel to recruiters who volunteer to participate in JANMR. Like the classroom lessons, the instructor training, which usually involves a 4 to 6 hour session, is held during the recruiter’s normal work hours. Actually, the recruiter’s investment of time to the program is made almost entirely during normal recruiting work hours.

Each JA lesson the recruiter teaches consists of 6 to 10 classes; each class lasts about an hour. That means the recruiter will have one hour every week for 6 to 10 weeks to interact with high school students, faculty, and personnel. The hour-long classes give the recruiter enough time to make an impression, develop rapport, and establish him/herself as a role model in today’s Army. Another great advantage of the program is that the recruiter’s repeated appearances in the classroom, before the same 25 to 30 students—reinforce the recruiting message and the positive image the recruiter presents. An extra bonus is that the recruiter will develop a new, marketable skill.

"This is a tremendous program," said MG Gaddis. "American soldiers have learned the benefits of teamwork, self-discipline and persistence and they are willing to share that knowledge with students through Junior Achievement." JANMR is supported by the US Army headquarters and Recruiting Command headquarters. Copies of the CG’s memo, the JANMR Program Strategy, and copies of JA lesson plan materials have been sent by USAREC HQ to brigade and battalion A&PA personnel.