U.S. Army ROTC | |
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Active | 1916–present |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Army |
Role | Officer Training |
Garrison/HQ | Fort Knox, Kentucky |
Motto(s) | "Leadership Excellence" |
Website | ROTC Website |
Commanders | |
Commanding General | BG Maurice O. Barnett |
Deputy Commanding General | BG Steven M. King |
Command Sergeant Major | CSM Roy A. Young |
The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) is the United States Army component of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. It is the largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program which is a group of college and university-based officer training programs for training commissioned officers for the United States Army and its reserves components: the Army Reserves and the Army National Guard.[1][2][3] There are over 30,000 Army ROTC cadets enrolled in 274 ROTC programs at colleges and universities throughout the United States.[citation needed][4] These schools are categorized as Military Colleges (MC), Military Junior Colleges (MJC) and Civilian Colleges (CC).[5][6]
All of these units are commanded by the U.S. Army Cadet Command, whose mission is "to select, educate, train, and commission college students to be officers and leaders of character in the Total Army and form partnerships with high schools to conduct JROTC programs to develop citizens of character for a lifetime of commitment and service to the nation."[7]
The first college to offer military training was Norwich University, founded in 1819 in Vermont, followed by various state-chartered military schools and finally post-Civil War civilian land grant colleges that required military training. The modern Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps was created by the National Defense Act of 1916 and commissioned its first class of lieutenants in 1920.