The future of national security will not be built in a single recruiting station or training command. It will be built years earlier, in the places where young people first learn discipline, teamwork, confidence, and service. If we want a stronger future force, public-private partnerships must treat youth development as a core national security investment, not a side program.
I have seen this firsthand as a retired U.S. Army officer, volunteer leader, and youth sports coach and scout mentor. Some of the most important leadership lessons I ever learned did not come from a classroom or a briefing slide. They came from watching young people discover what they were capable of when someone believed in them, challenged them, and held them accountable.
Youth development is not just about after-school activities. It builds habits that last: showing up, listening, working as part of a team, and bouncing back after failure. Those habits matter in athletics, school, work, and eventually military service or any form of civic duty.
The nation cannot afford to treat youth development as optional. Recruiting, retention, and readiness all depend on the quality of the people entering service. If young Americans grow up without exposure to disciplined mentoring, structured teamwork, and service-minded role models, the pool of future volunteers will shrink in both size and strength.
A clear policy opportunity
Congress already has several bipartisan tools on the table to advance this work. The FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a key provision championed by Senator Katie Britt that reduces the minimum number of students required to establish a JROTC unit from 100 to 50, allowing more schools to offer leadership and citizenship training. That is a strong start, but we need to go further.
The Youth Workforce Readiness Act (H.R. 2910), reintroduced in April 2025, would create a competitive grant program through the Department of Labor for out-of-school-time organizations that provide workforce readiness and leadership development for youth ages 6 to 18. This is exactly the kind of program that can partner with youth sports, scouting, and community organizations to build the same skills that make good service members: responsibility, teamwork, resilience.
The Mentoring to Succeed Act would establish a five-year, competitive grant program through the Department of Education to support school-based mentoring programs, especially in communities with high rates of violence. It would fund trauma-informed mentor training, partnerships with local businesses for career exposure, and program evaluation to ensure quality. The Transition to Success Mentoring Act, led by Senator Cory Booker and Representative André Carson, would create grants for school–community partnerships to support students transitioning from middle to high school, pairing them with trained “success coaches” to improve engagement and reduce dropout risk.
At the federal level, the OJJDP Youth Mentoring Program, the only mentoring-specific line item in the federal budget, supports evidence-based mentoring for at-risk youth. Advocates are calling for at least $110 million in FY25 and $130 million in FY26 to shrink the mentoring gap. Fully funding this program, and expanding it to include more public-private partnerships with youth-serving organizations, is a practical national security investment.
How partnerships should work
Government agencies bring scale, structure, and legitimacy. Nonprofits bring trust, flexibility, and direct access to families. Community groups bring the daily relationships that shape character long before a young person considers wearing a uniform. When those strengths are aligned, youth development becomes a pipeline for leadership and public service.
Youth sports, scouting, JROTC, and similar volunteer-based programs teach leadership in a practical way. A young person learns to handle pressure, work through disappointment, respect authority, and support teammates. Those are not abstract qualities. They are the building blocks of personal responsibility and public service.
A call to action
If the country wants tomorrow’s defenders to be ready, we must start preparing them today. That requires Congress to fully fund youth mentoring and workforce readiness programs, to expand JROTC access, and to support school–community mentoring partnerships. It also requires federal and state agencies to work with local nonprofits, schools, veterans’ groups, civic clubs, and faith-based organizations as true partners, not just as vendors.
I have coached, mentored, and served long enough to know this: the most effective force multiplier is often a caring adult who chooses to show up. If we want stronger future defenders, we must first help build stronger young people.
Endnotes
Br Britt. (2024, December 18). National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2025 passes Senate includes key provisions advocated by Senator Britt. Calhoun Journal. https://calhounjournal.com/national-defense-authorization-act-for-fy-2025-passes-senate-includes-key-provisions-advocated-by-sen
Boys & Girls Clubs of America. (2024, February 15). Workforce readiness. https://www.bgca.org/get-involved/advocacy/federal-priorities/workforce-readiness/
MENTOR. (2025, January 16). 2025 Legislative talking points [PDF]. https://www.mentoring.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-Legislative-Talking-Points.pdf
MENTOR. (2025, August 10). Youth mentoring legislation & advocacy. https://mentoring.org/legislation/
MENTOR. (2021, January). 2025 Congressional leave-behind sheet [PDF]. https://www.mentoring.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2021-Congressional-Leave-Behind-Sheet.pdf
MENTOR. (2026, January). 2026 Congressional leave-behind sheet [PDF]. https://www.mentoring.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-Congressional-Leave-Behind-Sheet-MENTOR.pdf
Moody’s Analytics. (2024, September 2). Enhancing national security with public-private partnerships. https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/insights/public-sector/enhancing-national-security-with-public-private-partnerships.html
NNOMY. (2026, January 8). The military is running out of teenagers to recruit — and old-school methods to reach them. https://nnomy.org/es/home-73768/1240-the-military-is-running-out-of-teenagers-to-recruit
Afterschool Alliance. (2025, May 8). Youth Workforce Readiness Act reintroduced in House. https://www.afterschoolalliance.org/afterschoolsnack/Youth-Workforce-Readiness-Act-reintroduced-in-House_05-08-2025.cfm
Afterschool Alliance. (2025, February 27). Public funding for mentoring. https://mentoring.org/policy-agenda/public-funding-for-mentoring/
Plural Policy. (n.d.). H.R.2910 – Youth Workforce Readiness Act of 2025 (119th Congress). https://pluralpolicy.com/app/legislative-tracking/bill/details/federal-119-hr2910
Representative Jan Schakowsky. (2024, June 26). Schakowsky, García, Trahan, Durbin, Duckworth, Booker introduce Mentoring to Succeed Act. https://schakowsky.house.gov/media/press-releases/schakowsky-garcia-trahan-durbin-duckworth-booker-introduce-mentoring-succeed
Representative Dick Durbin. (2021, June 24). Durbin, Duckworth, Schakowsky, Garcia, Trahan introduce Mentoring to Succeed Act. https://schakowsky.house.gov/media/press-releases/durbin-duckworth-schakowsky-garcia-trahan-introduce-mentoring-succeed-act
SIRCC. (2025, June 17). Fostering leadership in youth sport through a tri-level mentoring model. https://sirc.ca/articles/fostering-leadership-in-youth-sport-through-a-tri-level-mentoring-model/
U.S. Army. (2026, May 22). US Army meets FY26 recruiting goals. https://www.army.mil/article/292740/us_army_meets_fy26_recruiting_goals
U.S. Marine Corps MCCS. (2025, December 31). Shape the next generation as a youth sports coach. https://www.usmc-mccs.org/news/shape-the-next-generation-as-a-youth-sports-coach
National Recreation and Park Association. (n.d.). Mentoring through youth sports. https://www.nrpa.org/our-work/partnerships/initiatives/mentoring-in-parks-and-rec/mentoring-through-youth-sports/
Homeland Security Today. (2026, February 2). Public-private partnerships in homeland security: Bridging government and industry. https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/leadership-management/public-private-partnerships-in-homeland-security-bridging-gove
Military OneSource. (2026, April 6). Military youth and teen programs. https://www.militaryonesource.mil/benefits/military-youth-teen-programs/
