119th (2025–2027)
H.R. 9403
The JROTC POWER Act requires the Secretary of Defense to update guidance for the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program within 270 days to evaluate how instructor pay affects recruitment and retention. The updated guidance must establish standardized metrics across the military services to measure instructor vacancy rates, retention, geographic hiring variations, applicant hiring pipeline data, and reasons job offers are declined. The Defense Department must then report to Congress annually for three years on baseline data, assessment of the pay scale's effects, and recommendations for any needed changes to recruitment and retention efforts. This legislation applies to the military services operating JROTC programs and the instructors they employ. The bill does not specify new funding but requires the Defense Department to conduct this evaluation and reporting using existing resources.