The National Defense Act of 1916 incorporated the Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps for secondary schools. Provisions of the 1916 act authorized high schools the loan of federal military equipment and the assignment of active or retired military personnel as instructors. With the condition, that they follow a prescribed course of training and maintained a minimum enrollment of 100 students over the age of 14.
In the beginning, the course required three hours of military instruction per week for the length of three years. With completion of this course of the military instruction, any JROTC cadet that graduate was authorized a certificate of eligibility for a reserve commission at the age of 21. (This provision granted permission to lapse after World War I with the decline of reserve officers.) However, when the United States entered into conflicts in 1917 there were limited resources to spare for the JROTC program. The Army was able to establish units at only 30 schools, between 1916 and 1919. Approximately 45,000 students enrolled in JROTC during the 1919-1920 school years.
Between the world wars, there were limited assistance and federal support for the JROTC program. Funding constraints and lack of enthusiasm from the Army, the JROTC units increased slowly during this time. There were 295 JROTC units in operation by 1939. The JROTC program has existed for over two decades and expected to have a much higher participation.
Federal backing was minimal for the JROTC program during this era. Certain secondary schools found it extremely hard to get the backing they needed. Student participation suffered because of inconvenient and undesirable times. Many schools would schedule training and instruction during lunch hours, late afternoon, or early evening. Many units suffered because of shortages of space and resources. Even with these obstacles, the enrollment in JROTC in 1942 stood at approximately 72,000.
The National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC) came about during the inter-war period as another high school training program, which resembled the JROTC. The amount of support received by the federal government was main difference between the competing programs. The JROTC units received instructors and uniforms from the Army, whereas the NDCC did not. NDCC schools were given weapons and a few training aids. Many of the NDCC units wanted to join the JROTC program. Unfortunately, due to lack of funds to support the merge of the two units, this could not happen.
The Army’s ability to persuade the influence over the NDCC units grew tension, since the supervision and funding rested almost entirely in the hands of the local school authorities. The Army exhibited decreased interest in the NDCC program. Therefore, the NDCC status became secondary class and never acquired the degree of military acceptance as the JROTC. In 1939, only 34 NDCC units were in operation, approximately 27 percent of the JROTC total. This reflected the lack of acceptance for the program.
