College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Alumni of the University of Dayton Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps are invited to help celebrate the program's 100th anniversary at a formal dress dinner and reception at 5:30 p.m. April 8 at the Dayton Marriott.

The University is home to one of the oldest continually operating Army ROTC programs in the country. Now known as the Fighting Flyers battalion, it was started not long after the modern Army ROTC itself was created by the National Defense Act of 1916.

Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Seamands ’81, commanding general, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, is the keynote speaker. Seamands received his bachelor’s degree in management from the University.

“The cadets always have a formal in the spring, just like regular commissioned officers, so this year we want to include our past graduates and community partners,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Rosenberg, professor and chair of the department of military science, who leads the program. “The 100-Year Dinner will be an opportunity for cadets, ROTC alumni and families to recognize 100 years of producing quality officers in service to the nation and our communities.”

Formal invitations will be mailed in February. Tickets will cost $40.

The University’s ROTC program averages 80 cadets annually; women typically make up about 20 percent.

Rosenberg said the cadets represent a broad range of academic majors, with many from the natural sciences, computer science and engineering. ROTC at Dayton has a growing population of students from diverse backgrounds, with new cadets this year from Nepal and Palestine.

Army ROTC has a total of 275 programs at U.S. colleges and universities with an enrollment of more than 27,000. The program produces more than 70 percent of the second lieutenants who join the active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve. More than 40 percent of current active duty Army general officers were commissioned through the ROTC.

- Jessica Barga, copywriter, University Marketing and Communications