While some people, after completing high school, choose to pursue college or make their own business, others join the military. These young people are willing to take on challenges and pursue the path of being part of one of the branches of the armed forces, including the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard.
This year is the last year these JROTC, also known as Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, seniors will be at Warren Central before they will be enlisting in the military. One of these seniors is Cadet Staff Sergeant Gizzelle Harris, who is planning to enlist in the Air Force.
Harris said she “always gravitated toward the Air Force.” Another reason she chose this branch is that it would work out in her favor due to the career path she is pursuing.
“I want to go for computer science [or] something related to computer science, so it just seemed like the best fit for me,” Harris said.
Another cadet who will be joining the military in a different branch is Cadet Staff Sergeant Christian Garcia, who will be joining the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is considered to be the most challenging branch of the military by many, including Garcia, which is why he chose it.
“I want to test my limits to show what I am capable of,” he said.
Next up is Cadet Private First Class Ariel Chavez, who has chosen to move on to the Navy after high school, despite her fear of water. She has chosen to move onto the Navy because of something her mother had told her.
“Whenever we’re afraid of something, and I’m afraid of the ocean, she said, ‘Just go for it,’” Chavez said.
And last but not least is Cadet Battalion Sergeant Major Luke Curry, who has made the decision to enlist in the Army. Two reasons why he chose this path are because his father is currently enlisted in the Army and has been for close to 40 years, and because they offer more than one special forces program. According to Curry, the Army offers more than the Marine Corps.
“For some of the special forces options, it would be [the] Marine Corps, but they only have one specific Special Forces which is the Marine Corp recon, [and] Army has Airborne Rangers and Green Beret,” Curry said.
Curry also said the main reason he is joining the military in the first place is because he wouldn’t like to be working in an office and just sorting through documents.
“You could not pay me enough to sit at a desk and just do paperwork,” Curry said.