Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Page 106

(Photo by Levon Biss, U.S. Army)

U.S. Army Cadet Command promotional photo shoot at the University of North Georgia, 26 September 2013.

Army ROTC at
One Hundred
Paul N. Kotakis

T

he program that produces the majority of commissioned officers for America’s Army marks
an important milestone this year: Its one hundredth birthday. The Army Reserve Officers’ Training
Corps (ROTC) program was formally established by
the National Defense Act of 1916.1 Since then, it has
produced two chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an
astronaut, and seven Army chiefs of staff.2 Among its
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graduates are also two former secretaries of state and
a sitting Supreme Court justice.3 And, with over six
hundred thousand graduates to its credit, Army ROTC
arguably can be said to have had a lasting impact on virtually all elements of American society.4
The manner in which the program has kept pace
with the ever-changing needs of the Army presents
an interesting study of organizational behavior. The
May-June 2016  MILITARY REVIEW