U Del Army ROTC History

Since as early as 1870, there has been a Professor of Military Science at Delaware College. Following a suspension of military instruction between 1875 and 1885, the Army officially established a Military Department, with 1LT George Leroy Brown as the first Professor of Military Science. In 1890, the number of cadets included four seniors, six juniors, nineteen sophomores, fifty-two freshmen, seventy-six sub freshmen, and one special student. As a result, when the Spanish-American War came, the Cadet Corps was well organized and its members proved valuable in preparing the Delaware Militia for its part in the conflict. Many of the undergraduates volunteered for service, and a few who obtained commissions remained in the Regular Army and served as officers in World War I.

Delaware College entered upon its academic year 1918-1919 mainly as an adjunct to the United States Army. Officially, it was known as Number 351 Student Army Training Corps, with every physically fit undergraduate a member of the Army, clad in uniform and entitled to pay.

​The Army ROTC at Delaware was an Infantry unit until 1926 when it was changed to Coastal Artillery. In May 1930, the first ROTC class in Coastal Artillery graduated and commissioned. During World War II, ROTC continued with the Army’s Specialized Training Program. In September of 1953, the Department of the Army authorized the conversion of the branch-specific course at the University of Delaware to a general military science program. This conversion has given ROTC graduates a broad background in military science common to the Army as a whole. Upon graduation, a cadet may be commissioned into almost any branch of the Army.