SCHOOL OF HARD KNOX

In the summer of 1915, Major General Leonard Wood (a familiar name to readers in central Missouri) instituted a military training program called the Citizens Military Training Corps — colloquially known as the “Plattsburg Idea” for the program’s pilot location in Plattsburg, New York. The CMTC provided a four-week course of military education to civilians who, upon completion, would be commissioned as reserve officers. Two years later, on the brink of our nation’s entry into World War I, the program had produced more than 17,000 trained military officers. In fact, one of the earliest graduates from the original Plattsburgh program was Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

This baptism by fire proved the need to maintain a well-trained, well-educated corps of military officers that could be drawn from the nation’s universities. That small summer training camp would go on to take shape as the Reserve Officer Training Corps — ROTC, in common vernacular. ROTC is a comprehensive two- to four-year program that includes academic courses in military science and extracurricular training led by professors of military science and other on-campus cadre. This training and education is in addition to the students’ regular academic schedule throughout the school year.

While their peers are enjoying beach parties and menial seasonal jobs, students in the Army’s ROTC program continue their training in true homage to the Plattsburgh Idea, during Cadet Summer