today in military history

[Fritz]

Today in Military History


Born

• 1808 Jefferson Davis, USMA graduate, sometime Secretary of War, secessionist
  
• 1815 Martin Edward Green, Brig Gen, C.S.A., KIA 1863
  
• 1824 Charles Kinnaird Graham, Brig Gen, U.S.
  
• 1831 Otho French Strahl, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1864
  
• 1843 King Frederik VIII of Denmark (1906-12)
  
• 1865 King George V of Great Britain (1910-36)
  

Died

• 1963 Sometime Sergeant Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII (1958-63), dies at 81
  
• 1970 Hjalmar Schacht, Hitler's banker, dies
  

Event

• 1098 Christian Crusaders seize Antioch, Turkey
  
• 1781 Jack Jouett rides to warn Jefferson of British attack
  
• 1784 US 3rd Infantry formed, as the 1st American Regiment
  
• 1785 US frigate Alliance is sold; last surviving ship of the Contental Navy
  
• 1898 USN party partially blocks Santiago Channel with the steamer Merrimac
  
• 1916 ROTC established by Act of Congress
  
• 1941 German occupiers stamp "J" on passports of Dutch Jews
  
• 1942 Japanese carriers Ryujo and Junyo raid Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians.
  
• 1943 United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration forms
  
• 1949 Wesley A. Brown, 1st African-American graduate of Annapolis.
  
• 1959 First US Air Force Academy graduation
  
• 1989 Chinese kill hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square
  

[Fritz]

This has sat up here for an hour and a half with no replies, so I guess this is an extended dola.

IMHO, the two most important event of the ones listed is:

1916 ROTC established by Act of Congress


Establishment of ROTC in 1916 went a long way towards two goals:

1.) Professionalization of our officer corp. Prior to ROTC, most officers were from a service academy (USMA, USNA), military schools (VMI, Citadel, etc), or through direct appointment. Officers in the reserve and National Guard were mostly appointed. The appointed officers had little professional training and indoctrination, and were not well equipped to lead or train men. Establishment of the ROTC provided more professional leadership for an age when national armies would take the field.

2.) ROTC played a strong role in promoting American democracy by opening the "officer class" and by laying foundation for the all-volunteer military. Until 1916, access to becoming an officer was restricted and mostly controlled by access to influential patrons. Fast forward 90 years and any American that can gain admission to a University has a reasonable shot at earning a commission. With the abolition of the draft in the 70's, and prohibiting military service as an escape from criminal prosecution (early 80s?) the US military went to being truly all volunteer. It is generally accepted that an all volunteer military is vastly superior to a conscripted one.

[scooper]

Once again, nice post, Buc.

Actually, this was interesting. I didn't reply as I had nothing to add. But It would be an interesting day-to-day feature to follow. Like the old WWII thread.

[Anrhydeddu]

[Fritz]

Originally posted by scooper
Once again, nice post, Buc.

Actually, this was interesting. I didn't reply as I had nothing to add. But It would be an interesting day-to-day feature to follow. Like the old WWII thread.

I think he is on to us Anrhydeddu. I knew one day people would discover we are the same person...


The Today in Military History can be found at www.strategypage.com. I just reposted here because there were a few interesting "social" issues like ROTC, the proto-UN, and the first black USNA grad.

[Anrhydeddu]

I know, I had thought the Hooligan and Curmudgeon labels would throw folks off.

[scooper]

Thanks for the link.

On a related note, last night I watched a nice two hour documentary on Wake Island on History Channel. They called it The Alamo of the Pacific. That's not a bad analogy.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by scooper
Thanks for the link.

On a related note, last night I watched a nice two hour documentary on Wake Island on History Channel. They called it The Alamo of the Pacific. That's not a bad analogy.

Yea, those poor guys in the Marine Def. Batalion really got it. They were ill equiped to deal with much.

The 1942 movie about the battle (Wake Island) was one of the first, and most honest, movies of WW2.

[Calis]

Originally posted by Fritz
IMHO, the two most important event of the ones listed is:

1916 ROTC established by Act of Congress

You're killing us Fritz! What's the other one!?

A bit off topic, but concerning the ROTC. It's just getting insane now in some respects, they've cut down the time needed in ROTC to ONE YEAR! This is at least in the AF, I'm not sure about the other branches. I'm not even sure if this is still around, I just recently heard about it, anyone else have more info?

Anywho, cool thread.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Calis
You're killing us Fritz! What's the other one!?

A bit off topic, but concerning the ROTC. It's just getting insane now in some respects, they've cut down the time needed in ROTC to ONE YEAR! This is at least in the AF, I'm not sure about the other branches. I'm not even sure if this is still around, I just recently heard about it, anyone else have more info?

Anywho, cool thread.

ah, the other was the UN bit, but I cut it. forgot to remove the "two" part above.

When I was an army cadet there was the basic 4 year program, but you could waive the first two years with qualifications from Jr. ROTC, CAP, military Basic Training, or something called Basic Camp. Basic camp was like basic training for ROTC types.

The first two years were non-contract, which means you had no official status, and no obligation to serve. If you were there on a scholarship or military program you were put under contract immediately.

So the real requirement was just 2 years. Between your "3" and "4" year there was a mandatory advanced camp, which went a long way in determining your pecking order when it came time for branch selection and duty status (Regular, Active Duty Reserve, Reserve, National Guard, Inactive, Nothing).

Strictly speaking, it was possible for cadets to merge their 3 and 4 year if they met some qualifications or if the program was desperate for bodies. I guess the point is that ROTC can be a 1 year deal.

My observation is the best cadets were 4 year types. Your peer group and relationship with the instructors was very important (at least at my school.) The folks that showed up for their 3 year (unless prior military) were not nearly as good and had a hard time gaining respect. They also had a much harder time at advanced camp.

anyhow, that is what I remember.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Yes College ROTC is a good learning tools especially for young NCO's like myself . It really enhances the military experience .I could only wish that I signed that 2 Year contract back in the fall now that my unit is on the brink of deployment.

[Fritz]

if anyone cares for a ROTC history:

http://www.jhu.edu/~rotc/rotc_history.htm

[cuervo72]

Cool, a JHU link