A Proud History-A Bright Future

The tradition of Army ROTC at the University of Montana.

The University of Montana was established in 1893 and Army ROTC became a part of University of Montana in 1918 and has been housed in Schreiber Gym since 1926. Since its first officers were commissioned in 1922, the University of Montana ROTC program has produced over 1,800 Officers for the United States Army, The United States Army Reserve and the Army National Guard who have served proudly around the world in times of peace and war in both the Army and Army Air Corps.

How ROTC came to be:

The authority for the ROTC program predates most of the colleges and universities in the West.  The Reserve Officers' Training Corps of the Army has a long and honorable history, even older than the law which formally established it in 1916.  In 1819 Captain Alden Partridge, a former Superintendent of the Military Academy , founded the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy (now Norwich University ) in Northfield , Vermont .  This was the first American institution of higher education to prescribe military training as part of its curriculum.

Prior to the Civil War, additional colleges and universities offered military training; but it was not until 1862, during the Civil War, that military training in our colleges received the impetus which is still present today.  Representative Justin Morrill of Vermont sponsored an act to provide grants of land, and later money, for colleges that would offer military training along with training in agriculture and the mechanical arts.

The Morrill Act, as it was passed by Congress and signed by President Lincoln, was the forerunner of ROTC as established by the National Defense Act of 1916.  The first officers commissioned from The U of M ROTC program graduated in 1922.  Since the passage of the Defense Act of 1916, ROTC has been the major source of Army Reserve officers and is now a major source of Regular Army officers as well.  The program produces approximately 75% of all Army officers.  The U of M has produced over 1800 Army officers.

The UM ROTC Battalion, the Grizzly Battalion, is one of more than 270 host ROTC units throughout the country and has a partnership program at Carroll College in Helena .  For over 80 years the UM Military Science curriculum has maintained the stringent academic standards of the host institution and provided its officer graduates with the best preparation possible for service with the United States Army.  Demonstrated performance is the key to success in the battalion.   The Grizzly Battalion is recognized nationally as a leader in producing quality officers.