NROTC History

History of the NROTC Program

The Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NROTC) was established by an act of Congress in 1925 to offer interested college students the necessary Naval Science courses required to qualify them for commissions in the Naval Reserve. NROTC units were established in 1926 at six universities. The Marine Corps joined the program in 1932 offering qualified midshipmen reserve commissions in the United States Marine Corps. The initial program was highly successful and instrumental in the Navy's expansion from a manpower force of 100,000 in 1933 to over three and one-half million in 1945.

As the United States became the world's leading power, the requirement for a larger regular career officer corps for the Navy became evident. The Holloway Plan, passed in 1946, established the NROTC Regular Program, supplementing the output of the U. S. Naval Academy. In 1972, the Secretary of the Navy authorized 16 women to enroll in the program and in 1992 the first 120 Nurse Corps commissions were authorized. NROTC now consists of the NROTC Scholarship Program and the NROTC College Program, both of which afford graduating midshipmen active duty commissions in the Navy and Marine Corps.