AUSA’s LTG Theodore Stroup, Jr., Achievement Award
AUSA’s LTG Theodore Stroup, Jr., Achievement Award
AUSA’s LTG Theodore Stroup, Jr. Scholarship Essay
Why: The purpose of the LTG Theodore Stroup, Jr., Scholarship Essay is to engage the next generation of Soldiers and DoD stakeholders at a young age, to promote their growth into mature members of the defense community and to build an awareness of AUSA.
What: This is accomplished by an annual essay contest, open to all Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) students in their junior and senior years of high school (AUSA membership, while encouraged, is not a prerequisite of eligibility as it is for other AUSA scholarships). Each essay will be accompanied by one letter of recommendation and will be focused on a matter relevant to current issues and/or military history in the defense world. The scholarship, given to the top three contestants, consists of a monetary prize and a two-year AUSA membership. It may be published through AUSA’s Education & Programs department (at the discretion of the Edu&P editorial board). The scholarship amounts, in place order, are $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000.
Read the following article: SM Robert Nelson, SM Gabriel Arnold, “Put Down That Smartphone and Show Courage to Learn,” ARMY, January 2023, https://www.ausa.org/articles/put-down-smartphone-and-show-courage-learn.
Consider the authors’ contention that nothing can educate you so well as reading good books, that having all of the internet available in your pocket is no replacement for having a well-read mind in your head. In two to three paragraphs, summarize their argument.
Then, ask someone (a parent, guardian, teacher, coach, etc.) to help you keep yourself accountable for the next two weeks while you strictly limit the use of your smartphone to thirty minutes a day, leaving it at home or in your locker instead of carrying it in your pocket throughout the day. This will work best if you can do it together with your peers as a group exercise in warriors’ mental dominance.
During these two weeks, read a full-length book (printed, not on a screen) of military history or military current affairs, or a book on geo-political commentary—something that is not part of your regular school curriculum. Ask one of your teachers (e.g., history, social studies, political science, government, etc.) or a parent or guardian for reading suggestions. Again, you might find this easier if you choose one together with your peers so you can encourage each other in your experiment and talk about the book together as you read it.
Return to writing your scholarship essay. Did your mind feel different when you spent more time reading a book and less time on a screen? How? What book did you read? What was it about? Summarize its main points and how you find it relates to current affairs and/or how you can apply some of its lessons in your own life.
Please note: You must include a signed pledge regarding your limitation of your cellphone use to 30 minutes a day for 14 day—see form. And, submission of your essay gives AUSA the right to edit and publish your essay on AUSA.org/studies if the editorial board wants to publish it.
Download JROTC Cellphone Pledge Document
Guidelines:
- 1,000–1,500 words;
- Times New Roman;
- 12 PT font;
- Double-spaced;
- Include name, email address and JROTC Brigade on first page; and
- Remember to cite all sources used—failure to do so is plagiarism.
How/Where: With the assistance of U.S. Army Cadet Command, AUSA’s Education & Programs will push this opportunity out to JROTC programs nationwide, ensuring that awareness of the program’s benefits and of AUSA as a whole is made readily available to individuals who help to guide today’s JROTC Cadets as they choose their paths into adulthood.
When: We will begin accepting submission on 15 February 2023. Scholarship applications will be due by 1 September 2023. Winners will be notified by 29 September 2023.
Lieutenant General Theodore Stroup, Jr., USA, Ret., for whom this scholarship is named, is currently a Senior Fellow at AUSA and is the Education & Programs Writing Review Board Chairman. Retiring after 35 years of active duty service in the U.S. Army, he served as AUSA’s Vice President of Education and Executive Director of the Institute of Land Warfare from 1997 to 2013. Commissioned through the U.S. Military Academy in 1962, General Stroup later served as a course director in the Academy’s Military Science Branch. He holds an MA in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MA in Finance and Economics from the American University. A graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Armed Forces Staff College and U.S. Army War College, General Stroup is a Registered Professional Engineer.