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History of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (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.

History of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at Prairie View

September 1968
The Prairie View A&M University officially inaugurates the NROTC unit on campus. The unit’s first Commanding Officer is CAPT Francis X. Brady, a World War Two veteran and a member of the United States Naval War College.

May 1970
The first class of 13 MIDN commissioned from PVAMU.

May 1979
The Prairie View A&M University commissioned their first female Naval Officer, Wanda Leonard.

September 1978
The Prairie View A&M University has commissioned over 100 MIDN into the Navy and Marine Corps.

August 1992
The Prairie View A&M University NROTC became a member of the Naval ROTC Houston Consortium.

April 2003
The Prairie View A&M University Unit dedicates the NROTC building to Vice Admiral David L. Brewer, from the first class of commissioned officers out of PVAMU.

October 2018
Celebrated the 50th anniversary of the unit’s establishment.

Mission and Goals

Mission. The mission of the NROTC program is to develop midshipmen mentally, morally, and physically and imbue them with the highest ideals of duty and loyalty, and with the core values of honor, courage and commitment, in order to commission college graduates as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated towards careers in the naval service, and have a potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government.

Goals. The primary goals of the NROTC Program are to provide NROTC students with:
(1) An understanding of the fundamental concepts and principles of naval science.
(2) An appreciation for the requirements for national security.
(3) A basic understanding of associated professional knowledge.
(4) A strong sense of personal integrity, honor, and individual responsibility.
(5) An educational background which will allow them to successfully undertake, in later periods of their careers, advanced/continuing education in fields of application and interest to the naval service.
(6) A high state of physical fitness for the purposes of health and performance.