History

The Arkansas General Assembly accepted the Morrill Act (Land Grant College Act of 1862) provisions and created the Arkansas Industrial University (now the University of Arkansas) on 27 March 1871. Military training began that same year.

In 1873, the War Department detailed Lieutenant E.S. Curtis, an Artillery Officer and West Point graduate to supervise military training at the newly established university. LT Curtis served from 1872 until 1875 training the corps that had grown to 120 young men by 1875.

The passage of the National Defense Act of 1916 created the Reserve Officers Training Corps. The University of Arkansas Army ROTC Program was established as one of the charter universities under this act. Major C. F. Armistead, former commandant, returned to the University to become the first officer at the University of Arkansas to hold the title of Professor of Military Science and Tactics.

In 1927, LT H.O. Lane guided the ROTC rifle team to the first of three consecutive National Championships, capturing the William Randolph Hearst Trophy in 1927, 1928, and 1929. The ROTC program would add National Championships in 1944 and 1957.

From the end of WWII until present the Army ROTC program has continued to train students to become officers. In the fall of 1969, military training at the University of Arkansas became elective rather than compulsory.