He said the program has only one instructor who flies back and forth from Guam to Saipan, and this is why SROTC cannot “absorb” the growing number of students who want to join.
According to Castro, the number of people joining SROTC increases every year and it is a challenge for the program to “accept them because we only have one instructor whose time is divided between Saipan and Guam.”
He believes that the increasing number of SROTC applicants is linked to the growing number of high school graduates who want to pursue a career in the military as officers and not just as enlisted men and women.
Castro said enlisting in the military right after high school is a good choice but joining the SROTC is a better option.
He is encouraging students to get a degree first before pursuing a career in the military.
SROTC is a leadership training program that helps graduates of bachelor’s degrees become commissioned officers of the U.S. Army.
A person who enlists in the military after high school gets a base pay of about $17,000 a year, but someone who joins the service through the SROTC program gets $32,000 annually.
