The six senior military colleges are: Under Army regulations, an SMC must meet certain criteria:[1] Federal law currently prohibits the Department of Defense from requiring a policy in SMCs that mandates female students' participation in the ROTC programs.
Under both Army Regulation (AR) 145-1 and federal law, the ROTC programs at the senior military colleges are treated differently from those at other schools..
The Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments may not take or authorize any action to terminate or reduce a unit of the Senior ROTC at a SMC unless the termination or reduction is specifically requested by the college[3] and Army "[SMC] ROTC programs will continue at an accelerated rate as directed.
"[1] In contrast with other colleges and universities: "Under full or total mobilization, the Secretary of the Army may withdraw the ROTC detachments without giving prior notice to the academic institution.
All Military Science IV cadets at the SMCs will be commissioned and directed to attend the proper Officers Basic Course (OBC).
[22] Members of the Cadet Corps are required to be enrolled in ROTC and approximately one third are commissioned into the six military services.
Next to West Point, VMI has graduated more Army generals than any other college or university in the United States of America.
In addition to the accomplishments of its graduates in civilian endeavors, VMI is the only military college in the United States to graduate the highest ranking four-star generals across three services: Two Marine Corps Commandants, Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. and Randolph M. Pate, and Chiefs of Staff of the Army, George C. Marshall and the Air Force, John P. Jumper.
The Corps of Cadets has existed since Virginia Tech's 1872 founding; membership was mandatory for all male students during their entire term at the school until 1924 when the requirement was reduced to two years.
[29] Citations Informational notes The timing of the first seven appointments established both a clear order of seniority and a near-equivalence between the Army and Navy services.