Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, Commander Brandyon McMillian, a senior at Northwest High School, practices freeform rifle exhibition. (Glenn Hartong/The Enquirer)

Every day that Carrie Turner puts on her military uniform and goes to high school, the news from Iraq reminds her of the dangers she might face someday while serving her nation.

But the 18-year-old Lebanon High School senior, a leader of the school's Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC), is unfazed.

"I know what I'm getting into," she says matter-of-factly.

From Northern Kentucky to Lebanon, the ranks of JROTC programs are growing. Most schools here do not offer JROTC, but those that do report increasing numbers of students signing up, sacrificing their leisure time after school and on weekends to partake of the discipline, education and community service offered by the programs.

It's the first timesince 1991's Operation Desert Storm that high school students are participating in JROTC programs during wartime.

JROTC programs in Greater Cincinnati represent four branches of the armed forces Many students who join do not wind up in the military; adult leaders say the main purpose is to make them better citizens.

Still, the controversial war on terror has led some of their classmates to question the presence of a military program in their schools.

"We're kind of like outsiders to some of the other students," said Turner, a four-year JROTC veteran.

"They don't understand why we want to be in the military and they don't understand how we feel about our country and how passionate we are about America."

Air Force JROTC Master Sgt. Mike Thiergart, who heads the Lebanon program, admitted, "sometimes there is a stigma in schools about JROTC, but our kids don't let that bother them."

Nor does criticism from classmates deter Holmes High School senior Daniel Johnson, a leader of the Covington school's Marine JROTC program. Holmes has the only JROTC program in Northern Kentucky.

He has also heard some students question the appropriateness of high school programs sponsored by the armed forces, but dismisses their attitudes as self-defeating to the nation.

"If I'm not willing to serve, then who will?" Johnson said, adding: "When a country's young citizens are no longer willing to stand up and protect the freedoms they have, then that country will cease to be great."

Johnson understands the perils that he and his classmates could face once they join the armed forces.

"I realize that there may be a time when my mother may be given a folded flag," he said, referring to the military tradition of presenting the flag to grieving mothers.

That sort of frankness about the grim realities of military life amazes fellow students. Some spoke in defense of their classmates.

Lebanon student Kyle Brummett is puzzled by anyone who questions the role of JROTC programs. He has seen fellow students shouting insults at JROTC members as they perform honor guard duties presenting the American flag before high school football games.

"I don't get the people who make fun of them and call them 'ROTC nerds,' " he said. "In a couple of years they could be fighting for us over in Iraq or someplace else. How can you not respect them?"

Some criticism of JROTC comes from outside schools.

"It's nothing more than the militarization of students in our schools," complained Kevin Ramirez, east coast coordinator of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors' Get the Military Out of School program in Philadelphia.

"They tell you it's not to help recruiting, but it is, and it has a profound effect on high school students." But Thiergart, a retired Air Force veteran of 26 years in the service, countered that "we're not training kids to be in the military, we're training them to be better citizens."

"We teach them teamwork, discipline and a sense of community," he said, citing JROTC's extensive community service programs that include volunteering at nursing homes, neighborhood cleanups, food drives and fund-raisers.

Allen Walton agreed. AsNorthwest High School Navy JROTC senior chief, he leads one of the largest area programs, with 134 students. Like other JROTC programs it is largely funded by its sponsoring military branch, with schools covering the remaining costs. Uniforms and equipment - such as wooden rifles used for marching drills - are provided at no cost to students.

"Of course our main goal is to get everyone to graduate, but after that 40 percent of our time is spent on community service," he said.

Capt. Peter MacKay estimated that Northwest JROTC students spend an average of 13 hours per week participating in the program, which includes classroom instruction on nautical science, military history and leadership skills, as well as after-school drills and weekend community service.

JROTC students who enlist in the military after graduation enter their chosen branch of the service - including officer training school - at a higher level because of the service credit they have earned while in high school. They can also enter college ROTC programs at an advanced level and may be eligible for more military sponsored college scholarships, which are motivators for many high school participants.

Northwest's JROTC program has increased enrollment in three of the last four years and is one of the largest in Greater Cincinnati.

Most of the armed service branches would not divulge enrollment figures for JROTC programs in Ohio and Northern Kentucky. But retired Air Force Col. Greg Winn, national deputy director of Air Force JROTC, said there are 726 Air Force school programs across America, including 16 in Ohio. Lebanon and Springboro in Warren County are the only two in Southwest Ohio.

Holmes High School Principal Ray Finke, a veteran school administrator, applauds his school's Marine JROTC and the positive impact its has on a school, community and its participating students, regardless of whether they go on to enlist.

"People are always impressed to see kids in uniform and acting disciplined. It's always neat to see how their demeanor changes when they put the uniform on. It's suddenly 'yes sir' and 'yes ma'am,' " Finke said.

The most tangible positive, he said, is the wide variety of community service duties JROTC student squads perform.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com