We learned a lot from Mr. Adams in Crusader NJROTC 1973. Cross-posted to NOLA History Guy.
Crusader NJROTC 1973
Photo of the current Brother Martin Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) Color Guard. While these cadets are a much-newer vintage than when I was a cadet, the basics of what these guys learn and the activities they participate in are both similar and important.
There’s a lot of things in the news concerning Naval Aviation and The Naval Special Warfare Development Group( abbreviated as DEVGRU) in recent days that bring me back to my first semester of Naval Orientation at Brother Martin. Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CWO-4) Leroy Adams taught NJROTC I in 1973-74. I’m not sure what Mr. Adams (remind me to tell you the story of how Brother More, SC, always called him “Chief” sometime) did in the Navy before he retired. I’ll have to look that up, because he was great teacher. I want to share two things from Mr. Adams class that stuck with me.
NJROTC I
The first is outlining. I learned outlining the hard way, having received an F on a book report in English 8A (thanks, Brother Buddy). That pretty much kicked my ass and made me realize that a lot of my elementary school foundation wasn’t all that great. Then came baptism-by-fire with respect to outlining, when I competed in Extemporaneous Speaking in 9th grade. Mr. Adams approached teaching Naval Orientation the same way instructors approached training sailors in the fleet. He started with basics. While honor students chafed at having to read the textbook and outline what we read, the exercise worked. That training provided me with a solid foundation as I became an Education major at UNO.
That leads to the second thing I took away from NJROTC I. The course text, an incredibly thick Navy-issue book, included the Uniform Code of Military Justice in its entirety. A lot of us Debate Team kids aspired to be lawyers. It’s why many of us enjoyed cross-examination debate. So, when the day’s lecture wasn’t interesting, I would flip through to the UCMJ and read various sections. Those regs made it clear that joining the military wasn’t a choice that should be made lightly.
UCMJ, JAG, and Good Men
Fast-forward to adulthood. I didn’t join up (the Navy disqualified me because of my poor eyesight), but many of my friends and classmates did. All of them served honorably and did not run afoul of the UCMJ. Dramas like “A Few Good Men” and television shows like “JAG” always took me back to that reading I did in 10th grade. It’s why now, I find the present administrations rhetoric with respect to Captain Mark Kelly, USN (RET) so abhorrent. Now-Senator Kelly works hard to protect men and women in uniform by reminding them of their obligation to refuse unlawful orders. The UCMJ makes it clear that Senator Kelly is correct. Our NJROTC instructors would have agreed.
