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A Southside High School Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps cadet will be accepting an enlistment to the U.S. Marine Corps upon graduation.

Jayden Crawford, a senior at Southside High School, has signed papers that he will enlist with the Marines. He said he is excited to join the corps.

“It will help me better myself as a person,” Crawford said.

Crawford said his mother and his cousin have both been the military, but he plans to stay longer in the military.

Col. Brook Rollins, instructor with the Southside ROTC program, said that Crawford has been enrolled in the ROTC program for three years. That could allow Crawford to start ahead of most Marines who are enlisting at the same time.

“He will probably be getting a letter, and depending on whether it’s a two-year letter or a three-year letter, it will also help him out on his enlistment for opening rank,” Rollins said.

Rollins said a three-year letter for the U.S. Army would result in an opening rank of Private First Class and a pay increase upwards of $600 per month. In the Marines, that might equate to a bump up to an E2 to be a Private First Class with a slightly lower per month salary increase.

“So by taking Junior ROTC through high school and it doesn’t matter what branch of Junior ROTC it is, it will benefit anybody who signs up into the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force or whatever,” Rollins said. “It’s the only course that guarantees you money out the door.”

Crawford will enlist upon graduation. He is the son of Brittany Crawford and grandson of Brenda Crawford.