The Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps unit was assigned to East Tennessee State College on May 12, 1952, and has been a campus presence since.
Getting an ROTC unit was a two-year task that began in 1950 and involved two university presidents.
Then president, Dr. C.C. Sherrod, had been invited to attend a conference to consider a senior ROTC program. The conference was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Korean War.
Dr. Burgin Dossett, the next president, made it a personal quest to establish an ROTC unit at ETSC and applied along with 274 other schools for one. ETSC was not one of the 36 selected schools.
In 1951, Dossett applied for an Air Force ROTC unit but ETSC was again turned down.
After a second application the next year, ETSC was awarded an ROTC unit. The program was mandatory for all physically qualified male freshmen.
The first two officers, 2nd Lt. William Ray Abner and 2nd Lt. James Potter Jr., were commissioned in 1953 from ETSC’s new unit.
The ROTC had to change to keep up with the times. In 1953, women were allowed into the program. In 1964, military science was approved as a major.
During the late 60s, student protesters expressed anti-military sentiment. The administration rethought their former position of mandatory ROTC service and, in 1972, the ROTC became voluntary.
Nine alumni from the program gave their lives in the Vietnam Conflict: Capt. Alvin K. Broyles, 1965; Capt. Donald J. Fillers, 1965; Capt. Eugene D. Franklin, 1965; Maj. Billy J. Nave, 1966; 1st Lt. Douglas L. Jones, 1966; Capt. Gordon O. Walsh, 1967; 1st. Lt. Daniel L. Mullins, 1967; Capt. James E. Reed, 1968; 1st Lt. James D. Dugger, 1972.
One alumnus, Capt. Daniel E. Graybeal, died in Desert Storm in 1991.
The most recent alumnus to die while on active duty was 2nd Lt. Robert Thorne in 1996.
The ROTC was established by the National Defense Act of 1916 to train college students and commission them in the Army.

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