New York City ROTC at Fordham University

New York City Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is hosted at Fordham University, but is available to a number of other academic institutions in New York City who participate at Fordham. Army ROTC is an elective curriculum created by the US Army which is taken with required college classes. Because Army ROTC is an elective, students may participate during freshman and sophomore years without any obligation to join the Army. If a student continues to participate, they are obligated to be commissioned as an Officer in the Army.

History

The history of military training at Fordham University May Be traced to the late 1840s when twelve muskets were provided for the defense of the Rose Hill campus against members of the Know Nothing Movement, who had threatened to burn Catholic churches. In the early 1850s 40 students formed their own unit known as theCollege Cadets and conducted drills. Many alumni, faculty and students served on both sides during the American Civil War, and at least three received the Medal of Honor.

Formal military instruction under the supervision of a US Army officer at St. John’s College, the progenitor of Fordham, goes back to October 10, 1885. On that day Second Lieutenant Herbert G. Squiers of the 7th US Cavalry arrived as the college's first Professor of Military Science and Tactics (PMS&T). Squiers trained a cadre of 12 upperclassmen as cadet officers and a cadet unit was formed with an initial enrollment of 50 students. This rapidly grew to over 150. In 1890 Second Lieutenant Clarence R. Edwards became the next PMS&T. The cadet battalion again grew and was acknowledged as second only to U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Cadets provided honor guards at College and public ceremonies, and conducted tactical training on campus and in Bronx Park. During his time here the contributions of the program to the prestige of Fordham were great. A plaque on Dealy Hall honors Major General Edwards and his memory lives on as students enjoy the beauty of Edwards’ Parade Ground, the center of the Rose Hill Campus.

By 1905 neglect on the part of the United States Department of War and the establishment of Fordham as a University influenced the gradual demise of the cadet battalion. Military training resumed in 1917, with the organization of the Fordham Ambulance Corps and later a Student Army Training Corps (SATC) unit was formed, incident to World War I. Following the war the Memorial Gate on Fordham Road, designed by architect alumnus Major William F. Deegan, was dedicated to the memory of Fordham’s veterans.

Although on campus training again ceased after the war, Father Duffy of the Fighting 69th encouraged students to participate in the New York State's cadet program. A company of the 69th Regiment was then known as Fordham Company. The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was organized at Fordham on September 20, 1926. It was initially formed to train Coast Artillery Officers, and anti-aircraft guns for training were kept on campus. In 1929 the first of many future thousands of commissioned officers graduated the program. During World War II Fordham also served as a site for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). Following the war Fordham's ROTC grew by 1948 to an unprecedented strength of 925 cadets, a record still unsurpassed. During the 1950s the Army program became general, training officers for all branches of service. In addition, the Air Force program split off from the Army.

Current Day

Other academic institutions that can participate in Fordham's ROTC program are: City College of The City University of New York, College of New Rochelle, Columbia University, Iona College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The King's College, Lehman College, Marist College, Monroe College, Mount Saint Mary College, New School University, New York University, Pace University, Polytechnic University of New York, and Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology.

Fordham students may participate in the Air Force ROTC hosted at Manhattan College nearby the Rose Hill campus of Fordham, and the Navy ROTC hosted at Maritime College, State University of New York, also relatively convenient to Rose Hill. Lt. Colonel Randy Powell is the Professor of Military Science at Fordham University, assigned from 6/2006 - 6/2009. He is a graduate of West Point and has taught there.

References

• New York City ROTC website