What We Do

Our Community Salutes (OCS) is a national, non-profit organization helping communities recognize, honor and support high school seniors who plan to enlist in the U.S. Armed Services after graduation.

As we watch world events unfold, and the U.S. risks seeing its interests increasingly challenged, it also becomes critical to protect and sustain our all-volunteer military force. This year we will commemorate 50 years of referring to our military as an ‘all-volunteer’ force. Although there have been intermittent challenges to recruiting in history, today’s challenge is unprecedented. Every branch of the military is struggling to meet its goals, and numbers show there are only a record-low percentage of young people who are eligible to serve, with an even smaller percentage considering military service as an option.

Each high school graduate is faced with many options for their future, and those who have chosen to take the oath of enlistment have taken a solemn and profound act of commitment. But for many high school graduates, the decision to enlist can be daunting, especially in a world full of other opportunities, which is why it is important we champion their decision to serve our country.

Although each high school graduate might take the oath for a different reason, it is a reminder to us all, their action should be echoed by our own contribution to the greater good.