Reserve Officers' Training Corps

The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) is a group of college and university-based officer training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches of the U.S. military. In 2020, ROTC graduates made up a large portion of newly commissioned officers in the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force.

Students in ROTC attend college like other students but also receive basic military training and officer training for their chosen branch of service. They take part in regular drills during the school year and go to off-campus training during the summer. ROTC offers scholarships that can help cover tuition, textbooks, and lab fees, in return for agreeing to serve in the military after graduation.

ROTC units are organized differently depending on the branch. Army ROTC units are set up as brigades, battalions, and companies, while Air Force ROTC units are detachments with students in wings, groups, squadrons, and flights. Naval ROTC units are organized as battalions and include students who may later serve in the U.S. Marine Corps. Students in Army and Air Force ROTC are called cadets, while those in Naval ROTC are called midshipmen.

History

The idea of training reserve military officers at civilian colleges and universities in the United States began with Alden Partridge, the founder of Norwich University. He started Norwich in Vermont in 1819 and believed in training "citizen soldiers" — people who could serve in the military when needed but live normal lives otherwise. Later, laws like the Morrill Act of 1862 required some colleges to teach military tactics.

In 1916, Congress passed the National Defense Act of 1916, creating the formal ROTC program. The first ROTC unit started at Harvard that same year. During World War I, many men trained through ROTC became officers.

In the years between World Wars, ROTC grew with many new programs. By the 1930s, some high schools also had Junior ROTC programs.

When the United States entered World War II, many Reserve officers were called to active duty. ROTC helped train new officers quickly. After the war, ROTC continued to evolve. During the Vietnam War, some schools stopped requiring ROTC, but interest in the program grew again in the 1980s.

Today, there are three main types of ROTC programs: at senior military colleges, civilian colleges, and military junior colleges. Each offers different paths to becoming an officer in the U.S. Army.

U.S. Army ROTC

Main article: Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps

The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) is the biggest part of ROTC because the Army is the largest part of the military. There are more than 20,000 ROTC students in 273 programs at big universities across the United States. These schools are called Military Colleges, Military Junior Colleges, and Civilian Colleges (CC). Army ROTC helps train most of the Army’s officers. Some officers also come from West Point, Officer Candidate School (OCS), or direct commissions.

AROTC offers scholarships to students. High school graduates can start with a full four-year scholarship, while college students can join later and get money for the rest of their studies. There are also special scholarships for students who plan to join the Army National Guard, Reserves, or work full-time for the Army after finishing school.

Students who want a two-year or four-year scholarship must be U.S. citizens, have a high school diploma or similar, be between ages 17 and 27, have a college grade point average of at least 2.5, and meet certain fitness standards.

Usually, during the summer between their junior and senior year, students go to Advance Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky. This is a month-long training camp where they learn leadership skills and are evaluated by Army officers and other trainers. It is the Army’s biggest training event.

U.S. Naval ROTC

Main article: Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps

The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program began in 1926, and the U.S. Marine Corps started using it in 1932. This program is available at more than 150 colleges across the country.

U.S. Air Force ROTC

Main article: Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps

The first Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, called Air ROTC, began at several universities between 1920 and 1923. These schools included the University of California, Berkeley, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois, the University of Washington, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Texas A&M University. After World War II, the Air Force added ROTC units at many more colleges and universities across the United States.

Non-U.S. ROTC programs

Many countries with close ties to the United States also have ROTC programs. For example, ROTC in the Philippines started in 1912 when the United States ruled the country. It began at the University of the Philippines. Today, most officers in the Philippines' armed forces come from ROTC.

Other countries with ROTC programs include South Korea, which started its program in 1961, and Taiwan, which began in the 1960s but changed its training over time. Reserve Officer Training in Russia started in the 1920s. Brazil has had its own training programs since 1928.

Student Army Training Corps (SATC)

During World War I, the United States started the Student Army Training Corps. This program, led by Brigadier General Robert I. Rees, aimed to help young men get a college education while also training for the military. Students could join starting in the summer of 1917, and training camps took place in the summer of 1918.

Joining the SATC was a choice, and by October 1, 1918, 525 universities had enrolled 200,000 students. Those who joined received the rank of private in the army, with some moving up to leadership roles like sergeant. When the war ended with the Armistice of November 11, 1918, the need for more soldiers and officers ended, and the SATC was disbanded in December 1918. Its members were honored for their service.

The SATC had many well-known members, including leaders and public figures such as Frederick Van Ness Bradley, William O. Douglas, and Claude Pepper, among others.