Making Citizen-Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service
This book examines the Reserve Officers Training Corps program as a distinctively American expression of the social, cultural, and political meanings of military service. Since 1950, ROTC has produced nearly two out of three American active duty officers, yet there has been no comprehensive scholarly look at civilian officer education programs in nearly forty years.

While most modern military systems educate and train junior officers at insular academies like West Point, only the United States has relied heavily on the active cooperation of its civilian colleges. Michael Neiberg argues that the creation of officer education programs on civilian campuses emanates from a traditional American belief (which he traces to the colonial period) in the active participation of civilians in military affairs. Although this ideology changed shape through the twentieth century, it never disappeared. During the Cold War military buildup, ROTC came to fill two roles: it provided the military with large numbers of well-educated officers, and it provided the nation with a military comprised of citizen-soldiers. Even during the Vietnam era, officers, university administrators, and most students understood ROTC's dual role. The Vietnam War thus led to reform, not abandonment, of ROTC.

Mining diverse sources, including military and university archives, Making Citizen-Soldiers provides an in-depth look at an important, but often overlooked, connection between the civilian and military spheres.

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Making Citizen-Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service
This book examines the Reserve Officers Training Corps program as a distinctively American expression of the social, cultural, and political meanings of military service. Since 1950, ROTC has produced nearly two out of three American active duty officers, yet there has been no comprehensive scholarly look at civilian officer education programs in nearly forty years.

While most modern military systems educate and train junior officers at insular academies like West Point, only the United States has relied heavily on the active cooperation of its civilian colleges. Michael Neiberg argues that the creation of officer education programs on civilian campuses emanates from a traditional American belief (which he traces to the colonial period) in the active participation of civilians in military affairs. Although this ideology changed shape through the twentieth century, it never disappeared. During the Cold War military buildup, ROTC came to fill two roles: it provided the military with large numbers of well-educated officers, and it provided the nation with a military comprised of citizen-soldiers. Even during the Vietnam era, officers, university administrators, and most students understood ROTC's dual role. The Vietnam War thus led to reform, not abandonment, of ROTC.

Mining diverse sources, including military and university archives, Making Citizen-Soldiers provides an in-depth look at an important, but often overlooked, connection between the civilian and military spheres.

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Making Citizen-Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service

Making Citizen-Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service

by Michael S. Neiberg
Making Citizen-Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service

Making Citizen-Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service

by Michael S. Neiberg

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Overview

This book examines the Reserve Officers Training Corps program as a distinctively American expression of the social, cultural, and political meanings of military service. Since 1950, ROTC has produced nearly two out of three American active duty officers, yet there has been no comprehensive scholarly look at civilian officer education programs in nearly forty years.

While most modern military systems educate and train junior officers at insular academies like West Point, only the United States has relied heavily on the active cooperation of its civilian colleges. Michael Neiberg argues that the creation of officer education programs on civilian campuses emanates from a traditional American belief (which he traces to the colonial period) in the active participation of civilians in military affairs. Although this ideology changed shape through the twentieth century, it never disappeared. During the Cold War military buildup, ROTC came to fill two roles: it provided the military with large numbers of well-educated officers, and it provided the nation with a military comprised of citizen-soldiers. Even during the Vietnam era, officers, university administrators, and most students understood ROTC's dual role. The Vietnam War thus led to reform, not abandonment, of ROTC.

Mining diverse sources, including military and university archives, Making Citizen-Soldiers provides an in-depth look at an important, but often overlooked, connection between the civilian and military spheres.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674007154
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 09/01/2001
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Michael S. Neiberg is the award-winning author of Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe, Fighting the Great War, and Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I, among other books. He is Professor of History and the inaugural Chair of War Studies at the US Army War College.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. ROTC and the American Military Tradition

2. A Favored Position on Campus: The Military and Higher Education in the Cold War Era, 1950-1964

3. The Origins of Postwar Dissatisfaction

4. The ROTC Vitalization Act, 1964-1968

5. ROTC from Tet to the All-Volunteer Forces

6. ROTC in the Era of the All-Volunteer Force, 1972-1980

7. A New Academic Program: ROTC, 1972-1980

Epilogue

Abbreviations

Notes

Primary Sources

Index

What People are Saying About This

In this first-rate scholarly history of ROTC, Michael S. Neiberg makes a major and original contribution to understanding the place of the military in American society. By combing the archives of the armed services and colleges and universities, the author demonstrates that long before the uproar ignited by the Vietnam War, the collaboration between higher education and the military had been an uneasy one. And many of the
educational issues dividing the schools and troubling the armed services still endure today. ROTC has survived these conflicts because both sides recognized the benefits of educating military officers in civilian institutions, and because both could compromise, enabling ROTC to adapt and improve. This is a valuable book on a significant subject, sure to appeal to a variety of influential audiences. It should be required reading for everyone interested in preparing the military leadership for the next century.

Dennis Showalter

The citizen soldier, whether draftee, volunteer, or professional, has been a defining characteristic of American history for over two centuries. It is the citizen officer, however, who has been the focal point of American military effectiveness. In this distinguished first book, Michael Neiberg demonstrates that university Reserve Officer Training Corps did not merely provide junior leaders for the armed forces. They validated as well a fundamental postulate of the country's identity: anyone with sufficient intelligence, good will, and preliminary education can learn how to do a task competently. Neiberg's research makes a correspondingly important contribution to the social and cultural, as well as the military, history of the US; and establishes him as one of the most promising scholars in a rapidly developing field.
Dennis Showalter, Colorado College

Richard H. Kohn

In this first-rate scholarly history of ROTC, Michael S. Neiberg makes a major and original contribution to understanding the place of the military in American society. By combing the archives of the armed services and colleges and universities, the author demonstrates that long before the uproar ignited by the Vietnam War, the collaboration between higher education and the military had been an uneasy one. And many of the educational issues dividing the schools and troubling the armed services still endure today. ROTC has survived these conflicts because both sides recognized the benefits of educating military officers in civilian institutions, and because both could compromise, enabling ROTC to adapt and improve. This is a valuable book on a significant subject, sure to appeal to a variety of influential audiences. It should be required reading for everyone interested in preparing the military leadership for the next century.
Richard H. Kohn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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