Marine Corps base Quantico -- Thirty JROTC students from Parkville and Overlea High Schools in Baltimore County, Maryland, visited Marine Corps Base Quantico Feb. 4. The students got to experience the Virtual Combat Convoy Simulator (VCCS) and the Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer (ISMT) at Camp Upshur, had lunch at The Basic School and finished their tour at Marine Helicopter Squadron-One (HMX-1).
Steve Clifton, a retired Marine Corps major and senior JROTC instructor at Parkville, said the VCCS was helping the students improve their communication skills. The students were divided into teams of five, with each member taking on one of the following jobs in the virtual humvee: driver, vehicle commander, one of two back-seaters or gunner.
“It’s not Call of Duty where you just shoot everyone,” Clifton said. “It’s not about tactics. It’s about developing teamwork, making decisions.”
Clifton said the JROTC program in Baltimore County schools is heavily focused on ethics. He tries to relate everything back to what the students encounter on a daily basis at school and at home.
For some students in the program, daily JROTC classes provide a structure that is missing elsewhere in their lives. Some students were required to improve their grades to at least Ds in order to come on the trip, and Clifton said they did.
“The program keeps them mentally strong,” he said. “There are also behavioral standards.”
At the marksmanship trainer, Clifton said they would learn about determining and reacting to hostile acts and hostile intent.
“We can use hostile act/hostile intent to talk about the Baltimore riots,” Clifton said.
In the afternoon, the students toured HMX-1, the squadron that is responsible for transporting the U.S. president, vice president, cabinet members and other VIPs. The security surrounding the squadron presented an opportunity for Clifton to talk with the students about how their actions today can affect what they are able to do in the future.
At Camp Upshur, the students practiced lining up and marching in drill formation from the VCCS tent to the ISMT tent. In their cammies and covers, they looked like young Marines. But Clifton said the goal of the program is not to turn them into Marines.
“Our goal is to turn them into leaders,” he said. “At the end of the day, they still have to be mentally, morally and physically qualified to be Marines.”
One sophomore cadet, Kevin, is legally deaf. His sign language interpreter, Trisha Guy, accompanied him throughout the tour. His disability means he will most likely never become a Marine, but being part of the JROTC program will allow him to learn some of the positive and valuable lessons military service teaches.
“Ethics is like a muscle,” Clifton said. “You have to exercise it to keep it strong. It’s like going to the gym. Through JROTC, they’re hopefully learning to strengthen that muscle and become better citizens.”
— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com