'Match Made In Heaven'

Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. James “Jake” C. Porter made a big impact in very little time.

Last year, he started a new job as a JROTC instructor at Pottstown High School.

“I actually did ROTC in college,” said Porter, who entered active duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1990 and specialized in nuclear operations, munitions and missile maintenance. He retired from the military and decided he wanted to be a teacher. That’s when he found an opening for a JROTC instructor in Pottstown. 

“It just turned out to be a match made in heaven,” he said. 

Many first time JROTC students are shy at the beginning of the program, Porter said. That changes after they learn of leadership and “followership,” he said. 

“You could probably classify them as wallflowers,” Porter said. “Through the course of the year, these young men and women … bloom and turn into young adults. We’d like to think we play a part in that.”

Last year, the students worked roughly 1,600 community service volunteer hours, Porter said. 

There’s a reason the students work hard under Porter’s leadership, said Master Sgt. Donald MacNeil, who helped establish the JROTC program at Pottstown.

“(Porter) is scary smart … a good teacher and the kids love him,” MacNeil said. “They just admire him to no end … They like and respect him.”

Porter’s work earned him an Outstanding Instructor With Merit Award, MacNeil said. 

“I owe a lot of that to (MacNeil),” Porter said. “Don took me under his wing and showed me the ins and outs.” 

Porter’s desire to create positive change in the world is nothing new for him. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, he was eager to make a difference. 

“I wanted to deploy to be part of the solution to that problem,” he said. Porter helped conduct vulnerability assessments to “see through the eyes of the bad guy,” he said.

“It was a sobering feeling to see our country attacked on our home soil,” he said and talked of a personal loss.

“I played lacrosse in college. One of my teammates was in one of the Towers,” he said of John Schroeder, his teammate at Princeton. 

In contrast to the loss, violence and changes the U.S. experienced since 2001, the JROTC program gives students a stable, strong and safe foundation they can carry into the future.

“What JROTC did in 2000 and in 2002 didn’t really change,” Porter said. “It is more valuable, perhaps, but the need for what it does has always been there.”