Near the small town of Rupert, WV, Western Greenbrier Middle School has a Junior ROTC program that teaches students the importance of service to others and taking care of themselves. The WGMS program is one of many across the nation that has been influential in helping shape and develop generations of Americans.
United States Army Brigadier General Maurice Barnett, who served as the Commanding General for the Army Cadet Command, was kind enough to record a video to be played for the students and instructor at WGMS. Aside from well-wishes, Barnett shared that the impact and influence of ROTC is something that he can professionally and personally validate because it was a starting point for his own service.
“Now, serving 31 years in the Army has been great, and it’s really a testament to Junior ROTC,” Barnett said in the video. “I’m extremely proud of you guys.”
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a college-based program that trains students to become officers in the U.S. Military. There are also ROTC and Junior ROTC programs in high school and middle schools that offer students a chance to learn from military leaders while maintaining a student schedule. The high school and middle school versions have a structure that resembles the military but could be seen more as mentorship.
The Army, Navy, and Air Force have ROTC and JROTC programs that give students an opportunity to indirectly test the waters before committing to entering service for a short or long-term career. Many students opt to join while others decide to go in another direction. Barnett understands both sides of the decision but also shared that even if students decide not to pursue a military life, the rewards and benefits that come from ROTC or JROTC can serve them long after they move on.
“Statistically, JROTC students, at least on the Army side—I can’t speak for Air Force, Navy, and the Marine Corps—have higher GPAs, higher attendance rates, and fewer discipline issues. So, there are some residual things that happen through Junior ROTC that I think benefit those young people.”
Brigadier General Maurice Barnett
His Own Student Experience Led To Serving
Barnett and his three sisters grew up in a single-parent household in Gary, Indiana. He said his mother kept him in sports to keep him out of trouble. Barnett took Junior ROTC as a teenager and met Sergeant First Class Lewis Thomas, a Vietnam vet who Barnett said took him under his wing.
“He really inspired me to think about it. I wasn’t really convinced to pursue it,” Barnett explained. The final nudge to enter service came after his older sister joined the Marines.
“Seeing her transformation—emotionally and physically—she went to Parris Island and just came back a different person. I said, “I want something like that.”
Barnett initially joined the National Guard as a junior in high school and signed up for Senior ROTC during his sophomore year in college after being talked into it by Major Lance Lashley. It wasn’t long before the wheels got rolling quickly.
“I took his class, and the next thing I knew, I was out at Fort Lewis, Washington, for advanced camp.”
Barnett entered active duty on New Year’s Day 1995. He initially wanted to serve four years but found himself falling in love with service. His career has taken him to Fort Drum, NY, where he got to be a battery commander and to West Point, where he served as a P.E. instructor. He also got his Masters in Kinesiology at Indiana University along the way. He moved on to Germany and was deployed to Afghanistan.
Barnett became Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cadet Command in August 2024. He served in that position from Fort Knox, and his tenure has been a positive force for the 300,000-plus high school cadets and staff. He concluded that he got just as much back in return.
“I think about the impact you get to have on people’s lives in this profession, the influence you have, and then what you get back in return is probably exponentially even greater in terms of what they do for you.”
Introducing H2F to Students
The Army’s commitment to their soldiers through the Holistic Health & Fitness program (H2F) has been well documented in the past, and Barnett spoke in favor of the five domains of readiness; Physical, mental, nutritional, spiritual, and sleep. H2F has already shown signs of success where it has been implemented, and that’s why Barnett is excited to see H2F courses being introduced into the JROTC programs. As of early 2026, only 23 percent of 17–24-year-old Americans would be eligible to serve without a waiver. The goal is to change that statistic, and implementing these courses could be a solution, according to Barnett.
“We’re going to have this where every junior cadet will get some version of H2F. Maybe they don’t get all five pillars, but the sooner we can start talking to them about sleep, nutrition, spiritual wellness, and fitness, the better off they will be.”
Recruitment is up across all branches, but to keep that momentum going, the health and wellness of America’s young people must be a priority. Whether students in the ROTC programs choose to serve or not, many military leaders have gone on the record to say that a healthier nation is a more secure nation.
Knowing the potential that these H2F courses could have and how it may influence the future of many students of the country, Barnett expressed both optimism and satisfaction in this development.
“That makes me proud to be a part of that and think about the lives that we’re changing.”
Brigadier General Maurice Barnett
Barnett’s Next Chapter Awaits
At the time Barnett spoke with Fit to Serve, he was coming down the home stretch of his current role. As of March 2026, he is set to transition from Fort Knox to a new role with the U.S. Space Command.
“I’m going to another assignment at Peterson Space Force Base,” he announced. “I’ll be the Director of the J-5 there for Plans and Policy, so a little bit outside of my skill set. It’ll stretch me a little bit, I think.”
While he expressed a little uncertainty about what lies ahead for him, he also shared that a combination of his faith and experience along with capable people he would be working with will be assets as he steps into this new position. Those same attributes could be traced back to his own ROTC days, which is why he hopes to see the next generation of citizens consider it for their own futures.
“Through that JROTC experience, I actually believed I could do anything. And that’s kind of the intent, right? To give them those tools that they need to really stretch themselves and become all that they think they want to be at that point.”
To learn more about the Army ROTC program, go to their website.
M&F Senior Military Editor Rob Wilkins contributed to this Fit to Serve article.
