Army ROTC is the American military's largest officer generating organization, having commissioned more than a half-million second lieutenants. The first group, 133, received their commissions during school year 1919-20. In school year 1969-70 more than 16,500 second lieutenants received their gold bars through Army ROTC -- the largest commissioning cohort ever.
Women were first accepted into Army ROTC in school year 1972-73. The first group of females, 150, was commissioned in school year 1975-76. Women traditionally constitute some 20 percent of the corps of cadets and more than 15 percent of the commissionees.
Army ROTC has a resident teaching faculty on 270 colleges and universities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Army ROTC is not a college major; rather it is a series of elective courses taken in conjunction with a student's progress toward the baccalaureate degree. Army ROTC commissionees generally take Army ROTC instruction for four years, plus a six-week summer camp. A student must be enrolled in college full-time for not less than two years to earn a commission.
Army ROTC traditionally commissions some 60-70 percent of the second lieutenants who join the active Army, the Army National Guard, and the U.S. Army Reserve. More than half the current active Army General Officers are products of the ROTC system.
Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the joint chiefs of Staff, earned his commission through ROTC at the City University of New York. Gens. George Decker (Lafayette College), Fred Weyand (University of California-Berkeley), and General Gordon Sullivan (Norwich University) are former Army chiefs of staff who received commissions through Army ROTC. General of the Army George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff during World War II, is a graduate of a school (Virginia Military Institute), which is part of the ROTC program. He was graduated and commissioned prior to the signing of the National Defense Act of 1916.
All ROTC activities, to include citizenship training offered through Junior ROTC at more than 1350 high schools in all parts of the country, are commanded by U.S. Army Cadet Command with Headquarters at Fort Monroe, VA.
Historical Dates of Interest
- 1819: Military training begins at American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy (now Norwich University) in Northfield, Vermont.
- 1862: Morrill Act establishes Land Grand Colleges with military tactics as part of the curriculum.
- 1861-65: 2,500 officers who studied military tactics at civilian colleges and universities serve in the Civil War.
- 1894: Central State University of Ohio, known at the time as Wilberforce College, becomes the first Historically Black College/University (HBCU) to establish a Military Science Department.
- 1914: 94 colleges and universities are staffed with Army officers detailed as Professors of Military Science and Tactics.
- 1916: National Defense Act of 1916 signed by President Woodrow Wilson on June 3 establishing both Senior and Junior ROTC.
- 1917-18: 50,000 officers who studies military tactics at civilian colleges/universities serve in World War I.
- 1919-20: First ROTC commissions conferred on 133 men.
- 1939: General of the Army George C. Marshall, a commissionee of Virginia Military Institute, named Chief of Staff of the Army.
- 1939-40: 100,000th ROTC commission conferred.
- 1941-45: 150,000 ROTC commissionees serve in World War II.
- 1948: Distinguished Military Graduate program permits selected ROTC commissionees to be appointed as Regular Army (RA) officers.
- 1950-53: 18,000 ROTC commissionees serve in Korean Conflict.
- 1958-59: 250,000th ROTC commission conferred.
- 1960: General George H. Decker, ROTC commissionee at Lafayette College, named Chief of Staff of the Army.
- 1964: ROTC Vitalization Act establishes ROTC scholarship program.
- 1968-73: Number of HBCUs increases to 20.
- 1974: General Fred C. Weyand, ROTC commissionee at the University of California-Berkeley, named Chief of Staff of the Army.
- 1985-86: 500,000th ROTC commission conferred.
- 1986: United States Army Cadet Command established in April as a major subordinate command of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) with Major General Robert E. Wagner, an ROTC commissionee at Virginia Military Institute, named first commander.
- 1989: General Colin Powell, ROTC commissionee at the City University of New York, named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- 1991: General Gordon Sullivan, ROTC commissionee at Norwich University, named Chief of Staff of the Army
- 1991: Army ROTC observes 75th Anniversary of its organization
- 1992: President George Bush authorizes a doubling of the Junior ROTC program
- 1993: General J.H. Binford Peay III, an ROTC commissionee at Virginia Military Institute, named new Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, marking the fist time that the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and Vice Chief of Staff of the Army have all been ROTC commissionees.
- 1996: U.S. Army Cadet marks its 10th Anniversary as a major subordinate command of TRADOC
- 1998: Personnel cuts mandated by Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) result in major reorganization of Cadet Command headquarters and its three Region headquarters.
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