For more than a century, the sight of uniformed students rushing to military drills and shooting ranges was not only common – it was required.

From 1865 until 1965, all able-bodied male students were required by the university to take military training courses. Eventually the requirement yielded the university Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC, which enjoyed ebbs and flows of popularity on the campus throughout the century.

The training was established through the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which gave federal land to states in order to establish colleges that were required to provide agricultural and military education. The act gave no specifics, but after the Civil War, the university began requiring two years of military training, according to George Callcott’s book The University of Maryland at College Park, A History.

In the first decades of the program, students comprised a corps of cadets on the campus, wearing wool uniforms during meals, classes and training. However, the outbreak of World War I led Congress to the create ROTC in 1917. This new program provided commissions to students who completed college as well as military training.

The program faced a minor challenge in 1932, when freshman Ennis Coale and sophomore Wayne Lee refused to register for ROTC. Antiwar sentiment was sweeping the nation and Coale, a Methodist, claimed he was a conscientious objector and pacifist.

When he was suspended for refusing to register for training, he sued the university and won the initial case, but the university won an appeal to uphold the suspension.

By the 1950s, things were markedly more peaceful. Alumnus Ollie Ensor, class of 1951, entered the university in 1946, and on his first day of classes was measured and given materials for his military training.

“I thought it added another dimension to my life,” Ensor said.

Also, campus pacifism declined in the wake of post-World War II patriotism and growing anti-communist fervor. Ensor, who was active in the campus community, heard little dissatisfaction among his peers with having to sign up for the program.

The basic training was two years of military courses, including map-reading, leadership skills and marksmanship. Students would meet for drills in front of the university chapel and go to the shooting range in the armory basement.

“I had to learn how to shoot a rifle, and I had never shot a rifle in my life,” Ensor said.

After two years, students could choose to continue and receive credit toward graduation, as well as getting monthly payments.

The university’s ROTC became all Air Force in 1949, after the first Air Force program was introduced in 1946. Class of 1952 graduate Nicholas C. Nicholas recalled how he and his fellow students comprised one of the largest Air Force ROTC programs in the country. In 1951, more than one fourth of university students were part of the program.

After Ensor and Nicholas graduated, students began speaking out against the mandatory ROTC requirement once again. After students sued the university in 1958, the university reduced the military science from a college to a department and eventually reduced the requirement to one year.

In 1965, the requirement was lifted altogether because of the program’s lack of staffing, much to the pleasure of students and faculty who did not like the previous emphasis on “military fanfare” and favored “an atmosphere harmonious with the intellectual functions of the university.”

Contact Elahe Izadi at izadidbk@gmail.com.