Artist Statement Tomorrow’s Army explores the controversial world of U.S. military-based youth programs. Sean Donnelly’s photographs depict Californian chapters, yet military-based youth programs thrive in all fifty states.
The following images narrate a military-influenced tradition from child to young adult. Drill marches contradict the youthful need for individualization, while adult-sized military gloved dwarf young hands.
Although these programs are hotly debated, over 273,000 students are currently enlisted in JROTC and 11,000 are in The Young Marines. True to the documentary cannon, Tomorrow’s Army attempts to present images that seem benign to both sides of the youth program debate.
According to the group’s official website, “The JROTC Program prepares high school students for responsible leadership roles. The Program has changed greatly over the years. Once looked upon primarily as a source of enlisted recruits and officer candidates, it became a citizenship programs devoted to the moral, physical, and educational uplift of American youth. Although the program retained its military structure and the resultant ability to infuse in its student cadets a sense of discipline and order, it shed most of its early military content.”
Dissenters* argue that, “Learning to march and obey without though is not preparation for a high-tech future. Yet that’s what JROTC emphasizes. The Army JROTC text, LET 1 (Leadership, Education, and Training), p. 87, states, ‘When troops react to command rather than thought, the result is more than just a good-looking ceremony or parade. Drill has been and will continue to be the backbone of military discipline’.”
“Ninety percent of all JROTC programs train students to fire rifles or pistols,” dissenters continue, “and all of them drill with guns and teach military history, customs, traditions, and beliefs. In JROTC, too many kids learn, from example, that violence is acceptable.” In the vein of JROTC, “The Young Marines is a youth education and service program for boys and girls, ages 8 through completion of high school. The Young Marines promotes mental, moral, and physical development of its members. The program focuses on character building, leadership, and promotes a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. The Young Marines is the focal point for the U.S. Marine Corps’ youth Drug Demand Reduction efforts.”** Like JROTC, The Young Marines is under heavy fine from vocal opponents.
These photographs are part of a larger body of work focusing on post 9/11 issues of militarization, security, and American sectarianism that include photography focusing on families with children serving in Iraq, high school seniors entering the military directly after graduation, American-Muslims, and the Religious Right.
