MU Army ROTC program receives national ranking

The Army ROTC program at the University of Missouri was recently honored as the top unit of its size in the western United States. Each year the U.S. Army Cadet Command, the parent organization of the Army ROTC program, in conjunction with the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation of Norfolk, Va., presents awards to honor top Army ROTC units from around the country.

The Army ROTC battalions selected for the awards were the most successful of Cadet Command's 273 units nationally in accomplishing their mission of training and commissioning the lieutenants entering the Army through the ROTC program each year. Instituted in 1989, the awards recognize individual units within the Army ROTC program that have achieved the standards that best represent the ideals of the watch words of 'Duty- Honor-Country' as practiced by Gen. MacArthur, the famed World War II Commander and Medal of Honor recipient.

The University of Missouri program ranked number one among the 145 schools in the western United States. The MIZZOU Army ROTC Battalion includes partnership school cadets from Central Methodist University, Columbia College, Westminster College and William Woods University.

Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Wallace, the professor of military science and leadership at the University of Missouri, said, "The cadets in our program work many extra hours without complaint, ranging from physical exercises at 6 a.m. to training labs that often extend into the evening, while maintaining high academic standards."

Since the formal establishment of the Army ROTC program in 1916, more than 500,000 men and women have become officers through Army ROTC. As such, it is the largest single source of commissioned officers for America's Army. The University of Missouri has produced over 600 officers in the past 30 years. Many prominent Americans got their start in life through the Army ROTC program. Among them are:

Colin Powell - Former U.S. Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Samuel Alito - Supreme Court Justice
Sam Walton - Founder of Wal-Mart (University of Missouri Army ROTC)
Lenny Wilkens - Basketball great and coach
Earl Graves - Chairman and Publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine
Nancy Sherlock Currie - Space Shuttle astronaut
Lou Holtz - Legendary football coach
Robert Novak - Syndicated newspaper columnist and CNN panelist
George W. Casey, Jr. - Chief of Staff of the Army

Links:

MU Army ROTC

General Douglas MacArthur Foundation
U.S. Army Cadet Command

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