The United States Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps came into being with the passage of the National Defense Act of 1916. Under the provisions of the Act, high schools were authorized the loan of federal military equipment and the assignment of active duty military personnel as instructors. There was a condition that the instructors follow a prescribed course of training and maintain minimum enrollment of 100 students over the age of 14 years who were US citizens. In 1964, the Vitalization Act opened JROTC up to the other services and replaced most of the active duty instructors with retirees who worked for and were cost shared by the schools.
The JROTC Program has changed greatly over the years. Once looked upon primarily as a source of enlisted recruits and officer candidates, it became a citizenship program devoted to the moral, physical and educational uplift of American youth. Although the program retained its military structure and the resultant ability to infuse in its cadets a sense of discipline and order, it shed most of its early military content.
JROTC is a continuing success story. From a modest beginning of 6 units in 1916, JROTC has expanded to 1555 schools today and to every state in the nation and American schools overseas. Cadet enrollment has grown to 273,000 cadets with 300 professional instructors in the classrooms. Comprises solely of active duty Army retirees, the JROTC instructors serve as mentors developing the outstanding young citizens of our country.
Army JROTC has a rich and proud tradition at SCHS since its inception in 1985. Since then, over 2,500 students have been through the program and served in various areas in the community and military. Many students have earned various scholarships to a variety of schools to achieve their future goals and aspirations. A number of students have earned appointments to the military academies, ROTC Scholarships, joined as enlisted soldiers receiving bonuses, and are serving or have served in the National Guard or Reserves.
SCHS Hawk Battalion has had several years as an Honor Unit with Distinction and is currently in a new phase of realignment to attain the prestigious award once more. The cadets have represented the school well throughout the years and placed 1st in the Drill Competition as State in the 2005 school year as well as winning 1st place in the first Volusia County Drill Meet ever. The Raiders have done outstanding in the first two years of a competing team taking first place on
