Senior Military College

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In the United States, a Senior Military College is one of six colleges that offer military Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs and are recognized under 10 USC 2111a. The six senior military colleges are:

North Georgia College and State University; Dahlonega, Georgia
Norwich University; Northfield, Vermont
Texas A&M University, Corps; College Station, Texas
The Citadel; Charleston, South Carolina
Virginia Military Institute; Lexington, Virginia
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Blacksburg, Virginia

Under U.S. law and U.S. Army regulations, there are three types of ROTC programs administered, each with a different element. In addition to "Civilian Colleges" and "Military Junior Colleges" there are Senior Military Colleges (which can be referred to as "Military college" or SMC).

1 Criteria and Requirements
2 Schools
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Criteria and Requirements

An SMC must meet certain criteria:

Baccalaureate degrees must be granted.
All physically fit male students who reside on campus must take courses in military training. Exceptions to this requirement include foreign nationals, prior-service personnel, and students specifically excused by the professor of military science.
Outside of ROTC, the school must establish a corps of cadets in which all students wear military uniforms. The corps of cadets involves a military environment in which the students live constantly, not just during the school day, and in which the students are subject to military discipline.
The SMC must have as an objective the development of character through military training and the regulation of cadet conduct according to principles of military discipline (a cadet code of conduct).
The SMC must maintain military standards similar to those of the Federal service academies.

Federal law currently prohibits the Department of Defence from requiring a policy in SMCs that mandates female students' participation in the ROTC programs:

"Regulations . . . may not require a college or university, as a condition of maintaining its designation as a military college or for any other purpose, to require female undergraduate students enrolled in such college or university to participate in military training."^[1]

Cadets at an SMC are authorized to take the ROTC program all four years and not commission, unlike other colleges where cadets are required to sign a contract before entering their final two years.

Under both AR 145-1 and federal law, the Senior Military Colleges are treated differently. Unlike ROTC at other schools, the Department of Defense is prohibited from closing or reducing the ROTC programs at an SMC, even during time of war (full or total mobilization).

"The Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments may not take or authorize any action to terminate or reduce a unit of the Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at a senior military college unless the termination or reduction is specifically requested by the college"^[2] and "[SMC] ROTC programs will continue at an accelerated rate as directed."^[3]

In contrast with other colleges and universities: "Under full or total mobilization, the Secretary of the Army may withdraw the ROTC detachments without giving prior notice to the academic institution. The establishment of new SROTC detachments will not be authorized after full mobilization has been declared." All MS-IV cadets at the Senior Military Colleges will be commissioned and directed to attend the proper officers basic course (OBC). At other colleges, ROTC programs will be suspended and the cadre will immediately be available for reassignment.

Another advantage to the SMC system is that all cadets at the Senior Military Colleges are guaranteed active duty commissions when they graduate.

"The Secretary of the Army shall ensure that a graduate of a senior military college who desires to serve as a commissioned officer on active duty upon graduation from the college, who is medically and physically qualified for active duty, and who is recommended for such duty by the professor of military science at the college, shall be assigned to active duty."

[edit] Schools

[edit] North Georgia College and State University

Main article: North Georgia College & State University

North Georgia College & State University (NGCSU), also known as The Military College of Georgia, is located in Dahlonega, Georgia. Since its inception, the college has required undergraduate resident males to participate in the corps of cadets (the corps is optional for resident undergraduate females and all commuting or graduate students). The school also has a large United States Army ROTC program. Life in the cadet corps helps prepare ROTC candidates for a military career and cadets are required to take courses leading to a military science minor, however, they are not required to enter the military.

[edit] Norwich University

Main article: Norwich University

The oldest Senior Military College and recognized by the Department of Defense as the "Birthplace of ROTC", Norwich University is a private university located in Northfield, Vermont. Founded in 1819 at Norwich, Vermont as the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy, it is the oldest private military college in the United States. It is home to both a corps of cadets and a smaller traditional student population.

[edit] Texas A&M University

Main article: Texas A&M University

Further information: Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets

With an enrollment of 45,380 students^[4] and, of those students, approximately 2,200 cadets^[5], Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas is the largest of the SMCs. It was established under the Morrill Act of 1862 and cadets began classes there in 1876.^[6] During World War II, Texas A&M produced 20,229 Aggies who served in combat. Of those, 14,123 Aggies served as officers; more than the combined total of the United States Naval Academy and the United States Military Academy^[7] and more than three times the totals of any other SMC.^[8] Seven Aggies have received the Medal of Honor, tying with Virginia Tech as the most of any school outside of the military academies at West Point and Annapolis.^[8] In 1974, Texas A&M was the first SMC to admit females into its Corps of Cadets.^[9]

[edit] The Citadel

Main article: The Citadel (military college)

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to the cadet program, civilian programs are offered through the Citadel's College of Graduate and Professional Studies with its evening undergraduate and graduate programs. The Citadel enrolls almost 2,000 undergraduate cadets in its residential military program and 1,200 civilian students in the evening programs. While both programs make use of the Citadel campus and Citadel professors, cadets and civilian students do not share classes and only cadets live on campus.

[edit] Virginia Military Institute

Main article: Virginia Military Institute

Founded in 1839, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state military college in the United States.^[10] Unlike any other senior military college in the United States, VMI enrolls only cadets and grants baccalaureate degrees exclusively. VMI was the last military college in the United States to admit women and is the only military college or academy in the United States which requires both men and women to adhere to identical physical fitness standards.^[11] VMI has graduated 267 General and Flag Officers, more than any other state military college in the United States, including the first five-star General of the Army, George Marshall.^[12] Six VMI graduates have received the Medal of Honor, the highest award of the U.S. military.^[13] VMI has also graduated more Rhodes Scholars than all the other Senior Military Colleges in the United States combined.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]

[edit] Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Main article: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech is one of only two Universities with military organizations established as an integral part of a major United States civilian university; the other is Texas A&M University. The Corps of Cadets has existed from its founding. While not mandatory for membership in the Corps, many members of the Cadet Corps also participate in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and become commissioned officers in the U.S. Military upon graduation.