University’s Army ROTC has been awarded the 2016 General Douglas MacArthur Award for the best ROTC program in the 7th Brigade.
This is the first time IU has received the award, presented by the U.S. Army Cadet Command and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation. The award recognizes the ideals of “duty, honor and country” as advocated by MacArthur.
The General Douglas MacArthur Award is based on achievement of the school’s commissioning mission, cadet GPAs and standing on the command’s National Order of Merit List, cadets’ retention rates, Ranger Challenge competitions, Army training and physicality, as well as the 7th Brigade commander’s assessment and evaluation of the overall program.
One winner was chosen from each of the eight ROTC regions, which include 275 programs nationwide. IU is one of 38 colleges and universities in its region, which covers Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.
IU has the fourth oldest officer development program, following the United States Military Academy (West Point), Norwich, and the Virginia Military Institute. Military instruction was initiated on the IU Bloomington campus in 1840 by Jacob Ammen, a 1831 West Point graduate. The officer development program would be re-labeled with the establishment of the ROTC as part of the National Defense Act of 1916, which established an official ROTC program at IU in 1917.