close
close

Cocoa Jrotc Trip in the middle of the Dod Travel Fund Freeze canceled


The trip was canceled because the funds were not available for their bus price.

Alondra Viera spent four days this weekend with her with her with her with -jrotc cadets of the Cocoa High School, who navigated with a compass unknown forests, learned to shoot and compete with an arrow to see who knew the Trivia about the military and the US story.

Instead, the cadets were announced just two days before their departure in Camp La-No boss that the event was canceled due to the freezing of the Federal Ministry of Department in the Ministry of Defense.

A few weeks earlier, on February 26, President Donald Trump issued an order from the executive to make the federal expenditure more transparent. According to the command, the Ministry of Defense published a memo that the use of all the government issued by the government was immediately effective by civilian employees of DOD, with the exception of the direct support of the military operations or a permanent change of the ward. Later, the expenditure limit was reduced to 1 US dollar to travel cards.

While the trip of the cadets had already been paid, there was no longer a financing for the cost of traveling to the camp, said Matt Dailey, a test coordinator at Cocoa High and a supervisor for the trip.

“It's a real shame,” said Dailey.

For Alondra, who was two earlier times in the camp in Paisley, Florida, the news was unexpected.

“It was pretty shocking,” she said. “Many people were a bit annoyed, especially since we had a few new people, so it was somehow disappointing.”

How is Jrotc financed?

Every year the congress offers JROTC fund as part of the operation and maintenance and military and personnel budget of the DOD. The funds are used for instructor salaries, uniforms, cadet trips, training aids, textbooks, educational material and other operating costs. The schools offer classrooms, facilities and administrative support every unit. According to the DOD componer, total financing for the 2025 financial year was $ 439,077,000.

According to US law, the Ministry of Defense may not maintain less than 3,400 JROTC units and no more than 4,000 units, although the National Commission for Military, National and Public Services recommended in 2020 to expand the number of units to 6,000 by 2031.

How does the freeze of expenses on Jrotc affect?

As part of the efforts of President Trump to reduce the federal employee, the defense officers have announced that the workforce reduce the workforce by 5% to 8%. The agency has also implemented an attitude freeze. Credit cards were monitored or canceled in numerous departments, whereby Doge announced on March 11 in an X -Post that it canceled more than 200,000 credit cards from the government. This includes DOD travel cards that would have paid the bus price for Brevards Jrotc cadets.

Children from Space Coast and Volusia usually visit Camp La-no-cheers in Lake County, said Dailey. He estimates that around 200 students take part every year.

The camp is a JLCL Camp or a Cadet Leadership Challenge. According to the organization's website, Jrotc Army -Cadets have the chance to normally take part between March and August. These events take place worldwide and are usually held in scouts or military installations.

“The children really do the most work,” said Dailey. “The adults are there for the supervision and the military adults are there … to support some of the things … The adults are somehow as backup for the children.”

It is not clear how or whether these cuts or freezing of the federal government influence the JROTCs on the whole, or with actions such as those that were taken with the planned withdrawal of the Cocoa cadet.

According to a report by Wink News, the Jrotc Florida State Drill competition was canceled due to freezing. On March 11, Travis Akers, a high school teacher in Jacksonville, shared a screenshot on social media that the competition was canceled due to the “contradictions of the federal government of federal funds”.

It doesn't just happen in Florida. Jrotc cadets from Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana should take part in the SGT. Memorial Paul C. Gay Army Jrotc Memorial Drill competition at the weekend with 55 schools and around 200 teams are expected to take part. This is based on the reporting of the News-Enterprise in Kentucky. The meeting, which was planned in John Hardin and North Hardin High Schools south of Louisville, was canceled due to the freezing of the travel card.

The topic has triggered a significant online discussion between cadets in online forums, whereby cadets were canceled their competitions, leadership questions and more or are probably due to the effects of the freeze.

Camp la-no-che: Cadets help to become more confident

Land navigation, obstacle courses, a team member in a garbage, drown with two pants: In the Camp La-no-chee, jrotc-cadets can practice these skills “shoulder-an-shoulder” with members of the active service, said Dailey.

It is an opportunity for children who don't get much recognition to shine and explore a potential career path.

“We are a title I School, over 75% of our students are free and reduced lunch, and this is a real opportunity for you to see if it really is what you want,” said Dailey. “What I love is to see these non-soccer children out there. They are selected to be the battalion leader or whatever, and their chest is inflated.”

There is no active recruitment in the camp, but recruiters and other military members take care of the children.

Alondra said Camp was a good way to connect as a team. While she will still see local cadets, she will meet other units from all over the state at least this year.

“Camp can help acquire management qualities and learn how to work with people as a team,” she said. “I have the feeling that Camp and Jrotc definitely help to work with people and really learn to be more confident about themselves as a person.”

Finch Walker is today the educational reporter at Florida. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker.