Our History
The University of Alabama Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) has a long and distinguished history of producing Leaders for our nation. Alabama ROTC can trace its roots back to the Civil War with the establishment of the Alabama Corps of Cadets in 1860, which produced Officers for the Confederate war effort. Known as the “West Point of the South” the Corps of Cadets supplied Confederate armies with 7 generals, 25 colonels, 14 lieutenant colonels, 21 majors, 125 captains and 273 staff and other commissioned officers. On April 3rd, 1865 nearly 300 cadets defended the University against a 1,500-man Union Cavalry raid.
Following the war, the University was rebuilt and its doors reopened in 1871. The University’s military program remained until 1903 when it was dissolved. On June 3, 1916, after the signing of the Defense Authorization Act, the UA Corps of Cadets would be re-established by December 4th of that year. This time, as the first state school in the nation to adopt the ROTC. Over the next 100 years since its establishment as an ROTC program, our officers have served in every major U.S. conflict from WW1 to the Global War on Terror. During this time we have produced over 70 General Officers, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Winston Groom and Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Charles W. Davis – Awarded on 12 January 1943 for gallantry under fire at Guadalcanal during the Pacific Campaign. Our Alumni have become elected officials, Fortune 500 business leaders and founders of Nonprofit organizations.
