page_title: Reserve Officers' Training Corps
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Reserve Officers' Training Corps / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Reserve Officers' Training Corps members practicing rappelling at the University of Michigan.
context_page_description: The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a group of college and university-based officer training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
context_section_description: The concept of ROTC in the United States was created by Alden Partridge and began with the Morrill Act of 1862 which established the land-grant colleges. Part of the federal government's requirement for these schools was that they include military tactics as part of their curriculum, forming what became known as ROTC. The college from which ROTC originated is Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. Norwich was founded in 1819 at Norwich, Vermont as the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy. The university was founded by former West Point instructor Captain Alden Partridge, who promoted the idea of a "citizen soldier"—a man trained to act in a military capacity when his nation required, but capable of fulfilling standard civilian functions in peacetime. This idea eventually led to the formation of Reservist and National Guard units with regimented training in place of local militia forces.
  Another root of the modern ROTC program comes from the "Plattsburg Idea". In 1915, Major General Leonard Wood instituted the Citizen's Military Training Corps, the first series of training camps to make officers out of civilians. For the first time in history, an attempt was made to provide a condensed course of training and commissioning competent reserve line officers after only a summer of military training. Over 5,000 men arrived at Plattsburgh in May 1917 for the first of the large training corps. By the end of 1917, over 17,000 men had been trained. By the eve of its entry into World War One, the U.S. had a prepared corps of officers including one of the earliest Plattsburgh graduates, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. During the 1930s, there were ROTC programs in some larger city high schools (Memphis, TN; Charlotte, NC; Kansas City, MO; New Orleans, LA).
  Until the 1960s, many major universities required compulsory ROTC for all of their male students. However, because of the protests that culminated in the opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, compulsory ROTC was dropped in favor of voluntary programs. In some places ROTC was expelled from campus altogether, although it was always possible to participate in off-campus ROTC.
  Currently, more than 1,700 high schools have Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) programs.
  In the 21st century, the debate often focused around the Congressional don't ask, don't tell law, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and in force until 2011, which forbade homosexuals serving in the United States military from disclosing their sexual orientation at the risk of expulsion. Some schools believed this legal mandate would require them to waive or amend their non-discrimination policies.
  In recent years, concerted efforts are being made at some Ivy League universities that have previously banned ROTC (including Columbia) to return ROTC to campus. The Harvard ROTC program was reinstated effective March 4, 2011 following enactment of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.
  Under current law, there are three types of ROTC programs administered, each with a different element.
  The first are the programs at the six senior military colleges, also known as military schools. These institutions grant baccalaureate degrees (at a minimum) and organize all or some of their students into a corps of cadets under some sort of military discipline. Those participating in the cadet program must attend at least 2 years of ROTC education.
  The second are programs at "civilian colleges". As defined under Army regulations, these are schools that grant baccalaureate or graduate degrees and are not operated on a military basis.
  The third category is programs at military junior colleges (MJC). These are military schools that provide junior college education (typically A.S. or A.A. degree). These schools do not grant baccalaureate degrees but they meet all other requirements of military colleges (if participating in the Early Commissioning Program) and cadets are required to meet the same military standards as other schools (if enrolled in ECP), as set by Army Cadet Command. Cadets can b
caption: An Army ROTC unit practicing rapelling from a parking garage in September 2010
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