JLAB 2012
JROTC UNIT BEST PRACTICE
Military Ball
Claudia T. Johnson High School JROTC – San Antonio, TX
The military ball is an event that most cadets look forward to each year. It is not
uncommon to hear our cadets say that our Ball is better than the school’s
homecoming dance and/or the junior-senior prom. Each year, we have had
several cadets pay for more than one guest with the record number for a single
cadet is five paying guest set last year. We would like to think that our military
ball is one of the most highly sought out school events due in part to how well it is
orchestrated by our battalion staff. The cadet staff, with JROTC instructor
support, must begin planning at least nine months out to reserve the best
location, especially if planning the Ball around the holiday season. Annually, we
approach our military ball using three strategies. First, we involve as many cadets
in all phases from planning, to set-up, and execution. Secondly, we make the Ball
a great value for all attendees. Finally, our cadet leaders and instructors highly
promote the military ball.
The Johnson High School Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC)
“Exemplify Success – Nothing Less Battalion is almost four years old as we are the
newest school in our school district; therefore, our traditions are very young, but
well established when it comes to the military ball. We believe that involving as
many cadets as possible in each of our military ball traditions attracts them to
participate. Our first Ball tradition honors our graduating seniors with a “Grog
Bowl” event. This event allows the seniors to bring in one ingredient that best
describes their JROTC experience, they explain what it represents, and place it in
the bowl for all participating seniors to drink. With each passing year, the “Grog
Bowl” seems to become more disgusting. The cadet battalion commander has
one meeting with all perspective participating seniors to ensure all known
allergies are known and collects the ingredient for safe keeping until the
ceremony. No senior is allowed to participate unless they attend this meeting
and have their ingredient approved by both the cadet battalion commander and
senior army instructor. A second tradition is to recognize a “Royal” Court much
like high school homecoming and prom dances. Each Leadership Education and
Training (LET) level nominates and votes on their respective male and female
representatives. The cadet staff assembles the ballets with cadet photos. The
final ballot is collected and counted by our instructors who reveal the winners at
the Ball. Our Sabre Guard, under the command of the cadet command sergeant
major, honors the winners with a ceremonial Sabre Line at the Ball. A third
tradition is an expanded POW/MIA Honor Guard and ceremony. For this
traditional event, five cadets, dressed in white gloves with five dress service caps,
serve as the Honor Guard. The Honor Guard stands behind the unmanned
POW/MIA table directly behind the five place setting used to recognize service
members from each branch of service to include the Coast Guard who are unable
to be present at the Ball due to their POW/MIA status. Also, we involve a local
member of one of our supporting national fraternal military organizations ( i. e.
Veterans of Foreign Wars member etc…) to narrate the event. As the narrator
reads the script, the Honor Guard takes appropriate actions with the symbolic
objects found on the table used to reveal the POW/MIA story and hardships.
Finally, a third tradition that is attractive to all cadets is the one song serenade
conducted by our armed drill team members in honor of their dates. In this
portion of our Ball, the drillers will seat their dates in the middle of the dance
floor and sing a song to them followed by a slow dance.
A well attended military ball must be a great value to the attendees. The
foremost item to consider is the cost per person. The JROTC instructors are
deeply involved in approving the location and DJ and signing all required
contracts. First, it is important to have successful fundraising events to help
reduce the cadet costs for the Ball. Secondly, allow the cadets to vote on the
menu choices and provide pricing options for each selection. Finally, allow the
cadets to develop a song playlist for the “approved” DJ to play. At this time, it is
critical to have the cadet senior leaders review and provide the recommended
playlist to the JROTC instructors who may or may not be familiar with today’s
teenage songs. The songs must be school appropriate with no offensive or
derogatory remarks.
The third best practice strategy to ensure a successful military ball is for cadet
leaders and instructors to highly promote the event. Some cadets, especially the
LET I cadets may or may not be familiar with a JROTC military ball and will need
some encouragement to give the event a try. Our instructors and senior cadet
class leaders provide cadet etiquette classes prior to the Ball with all cadets
passing a Classroom Performance System (CPS) test for a class grade.
Additionally. we show video footage and display photo boards of previous military
balls to increase cadet interest and understanding of this longstanding tradition.
Involving the cadet corps is key to a successful military ball. It is traditions, best
value, and cadet interest that draw cadets to support probably the most costly
event a JROTC program will undertake. JROTC units might consider inviting other
JROTC programs to the military ball to increase their own interest and maybe gain
a better understanding of a another’s program. Our school district has a tradition
whereby each of the seven schools offers the other JROTC programs four
“courtesy” tickets to attend the others military ball. We would like to think that
our ball is one of the best in the school district since our “courtesy” tickets are
actively sought after each year from our rival schools to the point that they often
request extra tickets.