Army Speech a Junior ROTC Ball Is

Army Speech A junior ROTC ball is not the most receptive audience for a speech about the future and possible career choices, but nonetheless I was asked to speak to a group of future military members at just such an event. However these future members of the military were still only high school students and I was keeping them from enjoying their party, so I knew I had to somehow captivate their imaginations in order to keep their attention.

I also had once sat in their chairs as a HSJROTC student and I felt that since I had once been where they were, I could at least give them some advice as how to succeed in the military. But I could give them something more than that, since, as young people without any real experience of the military, I could give them my personal experience and hopefully instill some excitement about a future military career.

For those who are unfamiliar, a junior ROTC ball is much like a high school prom. Although it is meant to be a more formal event, the immaturity of high school students, even those with some military training like the audience I was addressing, was quite prevalent. After all, these students were experiencing things for the first time and their excitement sometimes could get the better of them.

I did not know these students personally, they were students at a school in Butler Georgia, the home of my first sergeant, Command Sergeant Bush; the man who had asked me to speak there. Butler is a small rural community with a population of just under 2000 people and the students I spoke to were typically rural. They worked on farms, were familiar with and supported the right to own guns, and, like many youngsters from a small rural community, they dreamed of life outside their little town.

Because the military offers an individual a chance to travel and visit many different places, I felt that this may be a way to stir their imaginations and get their attention. In my speech I wanted to accomplish two things: firstly, I wanted them to know the real experience of being in the United States military, not just the movie-version. And secondly, I wanted them to know that there are real possibilities for career advancement and success within the military.

I wanted them to understand, like I have come to understand, a person can have a successful and rewarding career in the Army. But the first thing I had to do was to make some kind of connection with the audience, to let them know that I was not just another speech maker sent to waste their time with a boring speech about honor, duty and service to country. I needed to make them understand that I was once one of them, and they could someday become someone like me.

I began with a story about my own junior ROTC ball and how a boring military officer came to give a speech which almost put everyone to sleep, and then assured them that I would not be doing the same. Then I told them about how I partied on that night with my friends, many of whom are currently serving in the military.

I also told them that some of those who I have called friends have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country and asked them to look around at the faces of their friends; some of them will be injured or even killed in military service. As they began to look into each other's eyes, I knew I finally had their attention and could then begin telling them more about life in the military. But then I took them on a journey of my professional career.

To the many bases I have been assigned to, and the many different places I have lived. I have been around the country and overseas, and have experienced much in the way of different people and cultures. I have also had a number of exciting adventures, both on duty and off, and I recounted them of tales of missions performed and celebrations afterward. But not only has my career been fulfilling, I have also had the opportunity to visit a number of places I had once only dreamed of.

In the end, I hoped that the journey through my career would inspire them to grasp the opportunity the military can offer someone from a small, rural town to see the world and play a part in bringing peace to the world. One thing I did not expect from the event was the number of individual students who came up to me afterward and asked about what I had spoken.

They wanted to know about missions I had mentioned, had I been wounded, about commendations, but mostly they wanted to know what it was like to visit such exotic places. While many have visited big cities and other places, for most of these students, Butler Georgia was the only place they have ever lived. The most common question I.