EDUCATION
Educating Future Leaders of the U.S. Army
EDUCATION
Educating Future Leaders of the US Army
In keeping with our educational mission, our chapter actively undertakes efforts to educate future leaders of the U.S.Army. We do this through support of the programs that generate future Army leaders. Our efforts include supporting US Army Cadet Command through local JROTC and Senior ROTC Programs, raising awareness of available national scholarship programs, as well as the US Military Academy through support of admissions programs.
Army Junior ROTC Programs
The US Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) is one of the largest character development and citizenship programs for youth in the world.
For decades, our chapter has supported local Army JROTC programs within our area of responsibility. Each year, we provide roughly thirty-five JROTC medals and certificates for outstanding leadership and academic achievement in our AOR as well as ten scholarships to Army JROTC cadets in Hillsborough County.
JROTC Medals
Criteria for JROTC medal selection are established between our chapter and local SAIs.
JROTC Scholarships
Ten annual scholarships are awarded to the best cadets within Area 9 JROTC programs each Spring.
Our primary area of support includes Area 9 JROTC headed by COL (Ret.) Ron Tucker, JROTC District Resource Teacher and Director of Army Instruction. For schools located outside of Area 9, chapter support may be arranged by submitting a written request for JROTC medals and certificates to our director of JROTC Programs. For JROTC Programs located in other counties, please contract our JROTC Director.
The annual deadline for submitting requests for support through our JROTC Medal program is COB on 31 October.
For further information about our efforts to support JROTC, please contact chapter JROTC director COL Sam Taylor, USA Ret. at JROTC DIRECTOR
To learn more about national JROTC Programs, please check The Official JROTC Website.
We would like to thank the team at First Command in Tampa for sponsoring the Hillsborough County JROTC Scholarships in 2020-2022.
Jenkins Military Leadership & Entrepreneurship Academy
The Jenkins Military Leadership & Entrepreneurship Academy was established by the Suncoast Chapter of AUSA in 2022 with the express goal of offering a variety of leadership development programs to the military community as well as entrepreneurship programs for Military Families, Veterans and Small Businesses who support the military community. For further information about Jenkins Academy programs, please contact our chapter president at president@ausasuncoast.org and list “Jenkins Academy Request” in the subject line.
The academy was made possible through a generous donation from an Army family and serial entrepreneurs, Chuck and Susan Jenkins and their firm, CWU, Inc located at 5402 W Laurel St. Unit 1B Tampa, FL 33607. CWU, Inc. (CWU) is Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business that provides its government clients with critical staff augmentation support. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, CWU began operations in 2004 and is owned and managed by Charles & Susan Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Veteran, who is the majority shareholder and CWU’s qualifying disabled veteran. The company is a prime contractor on the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command’s Defense Language Interpretation and Translation Enterprise II (DLITE II) multi-award task order contract. To better serve its mission, the academy headquarters is situated with the AUSA Suncoast Chapter and trainings are held on site at various locations the CONUS and OCONUS.
Entrepreneurship Trainings including certification programs and professional development build upon an educational program that was begun in 2016 by AUSA European Region and held in Germany, Greece, Italy, Denmark, Israel and Florida over the last seven years. While the introductory training has a seven year history, we are please to announce the launch of the advanced training in 2023.
The military leadership training element of the Jenkins academy focuses on hosting senior leadership experts as guest speakers to share their knowledge and insights with AUSA members, ROTC cadets, junior officers and NCOs to develop their well rounded leadership skills.
We believe that the Jenkins Academy strengthens our chapter’s long history of supporting ROTC programs at local universities in the Tampa Bay Area. These include the following programs:
US Military Academy Admissions Programs
Our chapter actively supports the admissions programs at the U.S.Military Academy through providing information and advice to candidates, assisting candidates with obtaining Congressional nominations to West Point and through direct interaction with the West Point Admissions Team. Chapter director and Goldstar Father, Craig Gross, serves on the West Point selection board for Florida.
For further information, please contact Craig Gross at Academy Admissions Programs and list “US Military Academy Selection Committee” in the subject line.
AUSA National Scholarships
In keeping with our mission as a non-profit educational and professional development organization, each year, the national headquarters of AUSA awards over thirty scholarships to AUSA members to attend college-level institutions.
For further information about these educational programs, please contact our chapter’s executive vice president or go to AUSA NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS .