100 Years of ROTC at Georgia Tech
From their roots in a student-run Signal Corps, Georgia Tech’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs have trained thousands of leaders.
Veteran’s Day marks the first of several events planned this academic year to commemorate the establishment of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program at Georgia Tech 100 years ago.
In 1918, the entire Georgia Tech student body was inducted into the Student Army Training Corps as World War I began to reach a climactic point in Europe. In 1926, the U.S. Navy chose Georgia Tech as one of six universities to have its new ROTC program that started with 60 freshmen.
A few years later, Winston Churchill visited Georgia Tech to see the ROTC units at Grant Field, and he reportedly called them, “The best drilled reserve corps I have ever seen in America.”
World War II started an incredibly rich tradition of ROTC at the Institute that continues to maintain high visibility on campus. Read more about the history, see historic photographs, and watch the video.