Serving Those Who Serve: JROTC leader calls it a career

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — We caught up with Lt. Col. Frank Barrow on his last day in the office. For the past several years has been the leader and chief innovator of Mobile County Public School’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps—or JROTC.  And I guarantee you—he’s going to miss the job.

Barrow said, “When you get a call from some young person who is now a young adult and they say we want to thank you for what you did for me—there is no better feeling—to me, it’s a Christian calling, it really is—I’m very blessed. I followed my Dad’s footsteps, he was an educator at South Alabama.”

Barrow entered the Army as a young second lieutenant out of college, serving in the 82nd Airborne with plans to serve his time and go back to school.

“Went overseas initially and then had an opportunity to serve with the 82nd Airborne Division and when I got there I realized I really love this soldiering business,” he said.

22 years and seven months of active duty—then 22 years and 7 months as a teacher and leader in the JROTC program.

“It’s ironic that it worked out that way.”

He was a teacher and a graduate of Mobile County Public Schools and from the University of South Alabama, where he participated in the JROTC program at Shaw High School and in ROTC in college. And maybe not so coincidentally, the person who will take Barrow’s place, Lt. Col. Chevelle Thomas,  also graduated from Mobile Public Schools, and the JROTC program.

“You know, I think our passion and dedication to this district comes from that,” Barrow said.

Thomas said under Barrows’ leadership, students and instructors never had to wonder which direction they were headed.

“He pulls everybody in—it’s one big family and we’re all charging down the same path. He set that example,” said Thomas.

And there were many innovations in the JROTC curriculum under Barrow. He believes the creation of the STEM Leadership Academy was one of the biggest.

He said, “It was all tied to workforce development—how can we help young people find a career that they can be a success with.”

Now, Mobile’s STEM Leadership Academy is the model for programs in other cities such as Philadelphia, San Diego, and Dallas. Barrow also implemented the Leadership Officer Training Corps for Mobile Middle Schools in the past few years.

Spend any time around Barrow and you will find out he is quick to give credit to others—many others—for his success in the military and in the school system. But he reserves the biggest credit to his biggest supporter.

“My wife has been extremely supportive my whole career. She’s been a true fan and supporter—When I was at Leflore High School she was Mama B—last name B—they always ask me when is Mama B going to bake some more cookies to bring to us.”

We’re proud to say happy retirement and recognize Lt. Col. Frank Barrow for Serving Those Who Serve.

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