CHICAGO - Dozens of teens dressed in uniforms provided by the US Marines stand at attention in the gym of a Chicago public high school as a drill sergeant goes through a list of the day’s do’s and don’ts.

Bring your books to class. Come for extra help if you need it. And wear your uniform with pride.

“Young men, you think you can get a haircut and say I’m done for two or three weeks. WRONG,” Sgt. Major Thomas Smith Jr. intones.

“Young ladies. There’s been no problem with your uniforms but there is a problem with your ties. Again, I will go through it again. Wear your ties when you come to my class.”

One in 10 public high school students in Chicago wears a military uniform to school and takes classes — including how to shoot a gun properly — from retired veterans.

That number is expected to rise as junior military reserve programs expand across the country now that a congressional cap of 3,500 units has been lifted from the nearly century-old scheme.

Proponents of the junior reserve programs say they provide stability and a sense of purpose for troubled youth and help to instill values such as leadership and responsibility.

But opponents say the programs divert critical resources from crumbling public schools and lead to a militarization of US society.

“To call these young people child soldiers might be technically inaccurate, but it does reveal the truth of it,” said Oscar Castro, a spokesman for the National Youth and Militarism Program, an advocacy group.

Military recruiters already have the right to give presentations in public schools and to access databases with the contact information of all public school students whose parents do not remove their children from the list.

But they don’t have nearly the same impact as daily interaction with teachers and students in uniform, Castro said.

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Sunny’s Surplus, once famous for military clothing and equipment, is re-opening in Frederick at the same site it closed earlier this year.
The company filed for bankruptcy, closing its 15 stores and liquidating its inventory in February. At the time, the company owed creditors $1.1 million.

Sunny’s, founded in 1948, had filed for bankruptcy in 1997, but emerged from that action a year later.

“We recognize the tastes of our customers have changed and we have altered our product line accordingly,” said Benjamin Gilbert, president and CEO, in a statement from the company.

“The name Sunny’s immediately conjures up images of military gear and we don’t want to lose that branding element. But, we also want to be known as a retailer that offers lower-priced and hard-to-find items that can used in day-to-day life. Consumers will find plenty of wool socks, work boots, backpacks and flannel shirts.”

The Frederick store is at 1003 W. Patrick St. The company also reopened stores in Westminster and Annapolis.

Gilbert said the company is looking to open more stores. No specific sites were noted, but the company once had stores in Virginia and Delaware as well as Maryland.