Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Records
(RG 58)
1890-1965
2 cubic feet and 3 reels of microfilm (60 feet total)
Improper Eyes Left. The lure was just too
great for Army ROTC cadet Michael Moore, he just HAD to see what Governor Rockefeller
was doing. Cadet Moore was supposed to have his eyes glazed straight ahead while
cannon fired 19 salutes to the honored guests. From left to right are Governor
Hatfield, Army ROTC cadet Michael Moore, Governor Rockefeller, Navy ROTC midshipman
Kiefer Tobin, President A.L. Strand and Air Force ROTC cadet Dennis Greenwood.
[OSU Archives ROTC Scrapbook]
Scope and Content Note
The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Records consist of three series. The
Army Reserved Officer Training Corps is Series One. Documents include military
exams, some with the answers provided. Series Two contains Division of Military
Science Records, which includes information on early military uniforms, a cadets
yearbook, reports, receipts, contracts, correspondence, military directives
and orders. Series Three documents the Air Force Officers Education Program
created in the 1960s. Documents include a House of Representatives bill that
created this program, curriculum development plans, news releases, correspondence
and three scrapbooks. The scrapbooks contain photographs and news clippings
of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) activities and honors bestowed
on members. Of note is one news clipping of the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy in 1963.
New Accession, 2004
Provenance
Reels 2 and 3 were transferred from RG 140 and RG 123, respectively.
Historical Note
Courses in Military Science and Tactics were first taught at Oregon State in
1872. In 1873 Captain Benjamin D. Boswell was appointed Professor of Military
Science and Tactics (1873-1876), the first U.S. Army officer on active duty
to hold such a position in any land grant college in the West. The first cadet
uniforms, worn at all times by male students, were gray with caps of the Civil
War type. The more familiar blue uniforms were adopted in 1893.
ROTC at Oregon State University is made up of the Departments of Military Science,
Naval Science, and Air Force Studies. In 1917, the Department of Military Sciences
became responsible for all military training under the National Defense Act
of 1916. The act expanded and standardized the training of Army Officers by
colleges and universities and established the Reserve Officer Training Corps
(ROTC). During World War II, OSU became known as the "West Point of the
West" for commissioning more officers than any other non-military academy
in the nation. At the end of World War II, the Secretary of the Navy commissioned
the Department of Naval Science (ROTC) on this campus to provide the training
of both Navy and Marine Corps officers. On July 1, 1949, the U.S. Air Force
activated an AFROTC unit that is now called the Department of Air Force Studies.
As of 1999, OSU is one of only 48 colleges and universities that offers education
for all three military departments.
Originally, two years of military science and tactics were required of all able-boded
male students, but since 1962, ROTC has been voluntary. Since 1965, two-year
programs have been available for students who have finished two years of college
but have not taken ROTC previously.
Related Materials
Other military records in the Archives include: the Ulysses
Grant McAlexander Collection (MSS); Military Photographic Collection (P
2); Army Specialized Training Program Records (RG 59); and Student Army Training
Corps Records (RG 60).
Shelf Locations
microfilm cabinet
7/3/04/a [23 x 31 oversize box]
8/1/09/42
Inventory
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