Founded
in 1950, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Reserve Officer Training
Corps (ROTC) has commissioned over 1,983 Second Lieutenants into the federal
Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard.
The IUP ROTC program began on
October 12, 1948 when the Indiana State Teachers College (ISTC) Board of
Trustees authorized Dr. Willis E. Pratt, the new president of ISTC, to enter
into negotiations for the establishment of an Army ROTC unit at the college. By
June 1950, Lieutenant Colonel Hubert E. Thornber arrived to assume his duties
as the college’s first Professor of Military Science and Tactics (PMST).
Instruction began in September 1950, and ISTC assumed the important mission of
providing officers solely for the Army’s Quartermaster Corps – in fact, ISTC
was the only college in the entire ROTC system that commissioned officers only
for the Quartermaster Corps. In September 1966, the General Military Science
Program was adopted, allowing IUP’s ROTC program to commission officers in
branches of the Army for which they were best qualified, not just the
Quartermaster Corps. Under this new system, IUP graduates began to fill the
ranks of the 17 major branches of the U.S. Army (Source: IUP Special
Collections and University Archives, Record Group 34).
The tradition of the U.S. Army
Nurse Corps was established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. These officers serve
our nation at home and overseas, defending their citizens in both peacetime and
war. It wasn’t until 1973 that women were allowed to enroll in the
program. That year, 53 female students
joined ROTC across the United States. By
1977, there were over 300 women in ROTC nation-wide. The first IUP nursing
major to complete the program and commission was Ann Guttendorf in 77-78, and
now many nursing majors follow in her footsteps.
To this
day the mission of the Department of Military Science has not changed. The
department strives to educate, train, and inspire cadets so that each graduate
is committed to the Warrior Ethos and the U.S. Army Values; prepared for
leadership as a commissioned officer in the United States Army; and dedicated
to a lifetime of selfless service to the nation. Originally required as a
mandatory class for all male underclassmen, Military Science teaches the
principles of leadership. Today, ROTC trains enrolled cadets to become
officers, while additionally offering a Fundamentals of Military Science course
that fulfills the Dimensions of Wellness requirement for the university.
The
Department of Military Science is currently located on campus in Pierce Hall. Constructed
with the financial assistance of the American people through the Higher
Education Facilities Act, Pierce Hall was built in 1960 to house the Department
of Military Science. The building was named after Colonial William Elliot
Pierce, of Indiana Pennsylvania, who graduated from the then Indiana Normal
School and served as an officer in the Pennsylvania National Guard. He deployed
to France in the First World War and for his actions, he was awarded the Silver
Star, Purple Heart, and Croix de Guire by the French government. Having a large
impact on the relationship between the military and the Indiana community,
Pierce Hall was appropriately named after him in his death in 1960.
Rising
to the nation’s call in the Second World War, IUP ROTC remembers the 4 fallen
Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Named after two distinguished
veterans, the Piwinsky brothers’ cadet work area is dedicated in honor of their
sacrifices of the 338th Infantry Battalion. The lounge area of Pierce Hall is
dedicated in memorial to Captain Robert Young and Lieutenant Kevin Flannery who
were killed in action in the Vietnam War. Their tributes on the wall donated by
their fraternity, Theta Chi, represent the strong history that ROTC has with
the collegiate community. During the nationwide Vietnam War campus protests,
several fraternities stepped in to help shield the ROTC department from
harassment.
Starting
in the 1970’s, the Military Science department started the Simultaneous
Membership Program with the National Guard and the Reserve components to give
non-scholarship cadets a chance to serve during college and experience an
officer’s education. In many cases during the Cold War, only half the Military
Science credits were needed and, subsequently waived, to be commissioned as an
officer if a cadet had prior service experience. Today, the program allows a
student to attend college courses, enroll in ROTC as a cadet and simultaneously
attend drill in an Army National Guard or Army Reserves unit while earning the
pay of an enlisted Sergeant
A
keystone in the Army’s force for generating officers, IUP’s history stands out
for its performance among 2nd Brigade: trophy cases full of Ranger Challenge
Awards, Marksmanship Honors, and even being known as the first Training and
Doctrine Command unit to conduct the revised German Armed Forces Proficiency
Badge with representatives of the Bundeswehr. For more than half a century, the
Military Science Department takes pride in its long history of leadership and
excellence. Warrior’s First.
Hall of Fame
- Lieutenant Colonel Barry D. Gasdek
- Colonel Stephen G. Abel (Retired)
- Colonel Denise L. Hopkins-Chadwick