War Eagles: Auburn University's Tradition of Training Soldiers By

War Eagles: Auburn University’s Tradition of Training Soldiers by Daniel Garrison McCall A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Auburn, Alabama May 4, 2014 Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Army, Auburn University, Specialized Training Program, Summer Camp, Land-grant Copyright 2014 by Daniel McCall Approved by Mark Sheftall, Assistant Professor of History Charles Israel, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of History David Carter, Associate Professor of History Abstract As a land-grant university, Auburn University maintains a tradition of training American soldiers. Its Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) unit was once central to campus life, but in 1969 the university eliminated its mandatory ROTC program. Having offered a remarkable contribution to national defense, as a case study Auburn University Army ROTC embodies an exceptional microcosm for understanding how the United States government has prepared the Army to fight wars requiring mass mobilization. With the old model of cadet training based upon raising a mass army to fight wars in the industrial age and the new model based upon fighting wars with more powerful weaponry but fewer personnel in the modern age of science and technology, examining how these developments within the Army interrelate to the evolution of Auburn University Army ROTC provides an opportunity to consider the significance of how Auburn’s commitment as a land-grant university to supporting ROTC has remained constant, although the centrality of Army ROTC to campus life is dramatically different. ii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Illustrations ...............................................................................................................v Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1. The Establishment of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps ..................6 Chapter 2. The Interwar Years ..........................................................................................43 Chapter 3. World War II ...................................................................................................78 Chapter 4. The Decentering of ROTC ............................................................................104 Auburn University Army ROTC (1945-1965) ....................................................105 Auburn University Army ROTC (1965-1974) ....................................................109 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................139 References ......................................................................................................................152 iii List of Tables Table 1. Auburn University war effort as of June 5, 1944 ..............................................101 iv List of Illustrations Illustration 1 ......................................................................................................................58 Illustration 2 ......................................................................................................................65 Illustration 3 ......................................................................................................................85 Illustration 4 ......................................................................................................................87 v Introduction Auburn University maintains a long and distinguished tradition of training American soldiers. Unfortunately, the memory of this proud legacy is mostly forgotten today by members of the younger generation. Although alumni who graduated from the university prior to the fall of 1969 - when the university required all able bodied male students to enroll in either the Army or the Air Force basic course Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) – may recall the prominent role that Army ROTC once played on the Auburn University campus, most individuals presently only think of the university in terms of its football team or its distinguished academic standing. The reality is that Army ROTC at Auburn University was once a fundamental institution of the campus that tremendously influenced the student body, faculty, administrators, and visitors.1 The Auburn University Army ROTC program also represented a remarkable contribution to national defense. For example, many people understandably recognize The Citadel: The Military College of South Carolina as a powerhouse for producing future leaders of the Army, yet during the 1955-1956 school year Auburn University commissioned more Army officers than the Citadel.2 Similarly, enthusiasts of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets enjoy bragging about their proud military tradition; however, concerning the contribution of Auburn Army ROTC to mobilization during World War II, Executive Secretary R. B. Draughon asserted in 1942 that, “as a result of our ROTC 1 Although this paper constitutes what is primarily a history of Army ROTC at Auburn University, it uses 2 Chart of ROTC Units Third Army Area: School Year 56-57, box 25, “ROTC, Misc., 1956-57,” Pres. Draughon Papers. For 1955-1956, Auburn University commissioned 149 officers, while the Citadel produced 143. For those interested, these 149 from Auburn University were commissioned during a school year when “net resident enrollment” for the university consisted of 8334 men and 2486 women. For more information see Ralph Draughon, President’s Official Report to the Board of Trustees, November 1, 1957, box 25, “Draughon, President’s Official Report to the Board of Trustees, November 1, 1957,” Pres. Draughon Papers. 1 program we believe we have as high a percentage of officers in proportion to the number of students trained as any institution in the country, even including Texas A. & M.” Indeed, their 1942 graduating class commissioned 177 men who later served on active duty in the Army.3 Finally, as a case study, Army ROTC at Auburn University embodies an exceptional microcosm for understanding how the United States government has prepared the Army to fight wars requiring mass mobilization. The reason lies with its outstanding history of training soldiers, with its status as a land grant university – which means that by federal law Auburn University must provide military training to students –, and with its relationship to the continuum of evolving factors affecting Army ROTC training. As will be fully explained in chapter 1, Army ROTC style instruction and the military training mandate for land grant colleges and universities have the same origin: Norwich University. Senator Justin Morrill employed the example of military training at Norwich as his guide when inserting the military training mandate into his bill establishing land grant universities. Passed during the egregious mobilization difficulties of the Civil War, which resulted in part from a deficiency in qualified officers, Morrill’s bill establishing land grant colleges and universities represented the first major attempt by the United States government to create an effective reserve force of personnel possessing military training. Despite these efforts, land grant colleges and universities never realized the entirety of Morrill’s vision for military training until the National Defense Act of 1916 bestowed a truly capable infrastructure for delivering valuable military training to students: ROTC. Conversely, land grant colleges and universities would later grant 3 R.B. Draughon to President C. B. Hodges of Louisiana State University, October 19, 1942, box 6, file 216, “Duncan, ROTC, Miscellaneous, 1940-47,” Pres. Duncan Papers. 2 valuable aid to the Army ROTC program by enthusiastically supporting ROTC and by resisting the movement against collegiate military training that, continuing from the 1920s to the present, seeks to obstruct the mission of Army ROTC. Additionally, 2013 marked the beginning of a dramatic transformation in how the United States Army Cadet Command (USACC) approaches cadet training.4 With the old model of cadet training based upon raising a mass army to fight wars in the industrial age and the new model based upon fighting wars with more powerful weaponry but fewer personnel in the modern age of science and technology, examining how the transformed Army ROTC program might affect Auburn University provides a useful opportunity to ponder what are the most significant differences between the past and present forms of Army ROTC on the Auburn University campus. In order to create a holistic narrative of soldier training at Auburn University, this thesis considers the interconnected relationship between four main groups: (1) the Auburn University Army ROTC War Eagle Battalion – principally focusing upon cadre members and the instruction they provided; (2) the university community – chiefly regarding students but including university personnel, visitors, alumni, and members of the surrounding communities; (3) the leading administrators of the university; and (4) the federal government – primarily concerning the strategic plans and directives of the War Department/Department

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