PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — JROTC programs are in high schools across the country representing our military branches.

What You Need To Know

  • There are 10 Coast Guard specific JROTC programs in the country

  • Seven additional Coast Guard JROTC programs are set to open in the upcoming school year

  • All of the our military branches are represented in JROTC programs

However, only 10 represent the Coast Guard, one of which is in Tampa Bay.

Students like Claire Lafave, a soon-to-be junior at Pinellas Park High School, is a member of the program. 

“I want to go into the United States Coast Guard as a Bosman’s mate,” she said,

Lafave will be the company commander in the school’s JROTC program during the upcoming school year. 

Lafave said a military career has always been in the back of her mind, but after discovering her school has one of the few Coast Guard JROTC programs in the country, her dream was born. 

From jumping through tires and crawling through pipes to vaulting over walls, the training is intense. 

“I was really shy when I got here,” she said. “So, definitely growing as a leader and meeting all of them and encouraging them, it’s definitely brought me out of my shell.” 

Master Chief and one of the teachers for the Pinellas Park JROTC, Michael Collis, said they were the fourth Coast Guard-specific program created in 2021.

Now, there are 10 nationwide, with 7 more openings at the start of the next school year, including one in Orlando. 

“Just making better citizens and teaching leadership and giving leadership opportunities for young high schoolers to have and just prepare them for the real world,” he said. 

Lafave said it’s the guidance Collis and other teachers have given her that’s pushed and motivated her. 

However, she doesn’t do this just for them: her classmates push her just as much. 

“I want people to see me as someone they can trust, as almost like family,” Lafave said. “That’s what we build here. I know when I’m nervous or something, I have people who are going to back me up.”