Deptford High School’s NJROTC color guard, one of many activities the military program offers, marches in the township’s Memorial Day parade.
Centered around the core values of honor, courage and commitment is Deptford High School’s NJROTC program, described by the school’s Naval Science Instructor, retired U.S Navy Senior Chief Franco Colamarco, as a character and citizen development course.
“It uses these components to teach character development,” Colamarco said.
The JROTC (Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) usually draws about 100 Deptford students – or cadets – each year, and more than 2,000 of them have gone throught the program since its inception at the high school in 2003.
Colamarco has been with the program for most of that time and teaches the JROTC course along with another senior naval science instructor who is either retired from the Navy or the Marines, a veteran or active-duty military. The second instructor spot is currently open but a search is on.
Though designed as a quasi-military environment with uniforms, a cadet chain of command and cadet ranks with advancement, the NJROTC is open to everyone, regardless of whether they have plans to join the military.
“Anyone can join,” Colamarco emphasized. “From the jock to the academic to the rocket scientist, it’s a family. We teach more than just military basics.”
One of the JROTC’s goals is to teach key life lessons and leadership skills and the notion that success in life does is not always about gaining status. It focuses instead on attention to detail, accountability, responsibility and respect for both oneself and others.
“I usually teach people that success doesn’t have to have a title,” Colamarco explained. “You don’t have to be a doctor to be successful. It’s a leadership laboratory in a safe environment. No one gets hurt and they learn.”
The program also offers a variety of different extracurricular activities, including a drill team at Deptford that competes against other schools in marching cadences; orienteering, where cadets use a map and compass to reach specified area locations; and community service such as an annual toy drive.
“It’s great for college resumes because colleges and universities like to see community service, academics and leadership,” Colamarco pointed out.
The JROTC grand event, though, is an annual military ball that some say rivals the prom. Cadets wear their uniforms to celebrate the program and the nation’s military, and are also taught proper dinner etiquette in advance of the ball.
“We have a good program here,” Colamarco observe. “We hopefully provide people a good example of what to do in life.”
