THEN & NOW
FIGHTING TO WIN
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff ROTC celebrates 45 years By LTC Jeff Foster | MILITARY SCIENCE
The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (Army ROTC) is the largest officer producing organization in the United States military and has produced 500,000 Second Lieutenants since its foundation. It began when President Wilson signed the National Defense Act of 1916. Although military training had been taking place in civilian colleges and universities as early as 1819 with Norwich being the first one to be established, the signing of the National Defense Act brought this training under a single, federally controlled body. Today, ROTC has a total of 273 programs located at colleges and universities throughout 50 states with an overall enrollment of more than 350,000 according to the United States Army Accessions Command.
ROTC at Arkansas began at Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College (AM&N College now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in 1967 when Chancellor Lawrence A. Davis, Sr. announced that the program would be offered in fall of 1968. According to an article in the Echo, the Army had not established any new since 1953. Arkansas AM&N College, along with the State College of Arkansas (now University of Central Arkansas) became some of the first Reserve Officer Training Corps to be established in over 15 years, being one of only 15 programs established that year. Introducing the program to the campus it fulfilled all its obligations required by the Morrill Act of 1890 that required all land grant colleges to teach military tactics. The first class that was enrolled had to make up both their Military Science Along with commissioning 60 percent of the 2nd Lieutenants I & Military Science II years (freshman who join the Army, more than 40 percent of the current active & sophomore) by attending what was known as an Army ROTC summer duty General Officers were commissioned ROTC. PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD REDUS
Inaugural Edition
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