Air Force ROTC

In 1947, in tandem with the Cold War, the Unites States Air Force was founded as an independent branch of the military. The following year, a unit of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) was established at East Carolina Teachers College. With completion of their program requirements, AFROTC students earned a commission as second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve and a college degree in a major of their choosing. Although initially exclusive to white males, the program at ECU diversified in the 1960s and early 1970s, admitting first women and then African-Americans as cadets. The success of the AFROTC program prompted another, the Army ROTC, to be established in 1983. Since its beginning at ECU, the AFROTC unit has commissioned over 1,400 second lieutenants. Currently the ECU Department of Aerospace Studies coordinates the AFROTC curriculum and unit activities.

From the start, AFROTC was eager to participate in college activities and become an integral part of campus life. Beginning in 1950, an annual military ball was held, sponsored by the Cadet Officers Club. It added to campus culture with its Honor Squadron, a drill unit that performed at football games. The AFROTC Color Guard and the Drum and Bugle Corps participated in parades and football games along with the Honor Squad. Throughout the 1950s, these units practiced on the stadium grounds on east campus.

At its founding, the AFROTC program included three officers, three enlisted men, and 80 students. Lt. Colonel William D. Brown was the commanding officer of the detachment. A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina and graduate of Clemson College, Lt. Col. Brown came to ECTC from the University of Alabama ROTC program. Lt. Col. Brown was assisted by Major Lomax L. May of Winfield, Alabama. Major May also came to ECTC from the University of Alabama where he graduated and then served as an instructor in the ROTC unit. By 1951, the ECU AFROTC unit had 400 students enrolled, up from 286 the year before. It expanded its curriculum with a new program, Flight Operations, for cadets planning to enter flight training as commissioned officers. In 1952-1953, more than 600 men – approximately 60% of the male enrollment at the college – participated in the AFROTC program.

Although initially segregated, by 1970 the AFROTC included African-American cadets and worked with an auxiliary group, Angels Flight, which was a women’s organization assisting AFROTC activities nationwide as official hostesses at AFROTC events. The Angel Flight group at ECU helped the AFROTC with Red Cross blood drives, march-athons for the March of Dimes, drives for UNICEF, and other service activities.

In 1969 the ECU AFROTC unit enrolled Martha “Marti” Elizabeth Van Hoy, its first female cadet, becoming one of four units nationwide to have undergone gender diversification. Van Hoy, a history major, was one of only six college coeds participating in the Women in the Air Force (WAF) cadet program nationally. At ECU, Van Hoy was secretary of the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society, and a member of the Arnold Air Society, the national professional fraternity of Air Force ROTC cadets. Van Hoy was, notably, the very first female inductee into the Arnold Air Society.

Following the success of the AFTROTC program, an Army ROTC program began in 1983 through a partnership with North Carolina State University. East Carolina's program became independent in 1997 and was henceforth known as the "Pirate Battalion." Army ROTC cadets are prepared by a cadre of active duty officers for a variety of career fields in addition to working toward their degrees. Overall, both ROTC programs have contributed significantly to East Carolina’s mission of service by providing resources for national defense and security.

---

Sources

• "Air Force R.O.T.C. Begins First Work at Greenville School." Rocky Mount Telegram. September 18, 1948. P. 9.
• "Air Force Unit Active At ECC." Rocky Mount Telegram. September 13, 1951. P. 14.
• "Air R.O.T.C." Tecoan. Greenville, NC: East Carolina Teachers College, 1950. Pp. 108-109. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15355.
• "ECTC Cadets Establish Good Record in Orlando." Teco Echo. August 5, 1949. Vol. 25, no. 1. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38182.
• "Hilton Styron Makes Good Record In AROTC In Florida." Teco Echo. September 23, 1949. Vol. 25, no. 3. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38184.
• Keller, Jane. "East Carolina University's First Female Cadet Has Ideas Of Her Own." Rocky Mount Telegram. May 17, 1970. P. 19.
• "Letter from Colonel Gregory L. Troutman of the United States Army to Dr. Robert H. Maier, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at East Carolina University, discussing the steps needed to complete the establishment of an Army ROTC Program on campus." Digital Collections. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56210.
• "Military." Buccaneer. Greenville, NC: East Carolina College, 1954. Pp. 99-104. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15305.
• "Military at East Carolina." Buccaneer. Greenville, NC: East Carolina College, 1953. Pp. 92-99. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15304.
• "Miss Van Hoy Is First N.C. Air Force Cadet." Asheville Citizen-Times. May 17, 1970. P.
• Records of Air Force ROTC. UA # 25-15. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
• Records of the Army ROTC Program. UA # 25-21. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
• "ROTC Activated For First Time." Teco Echo. September 24, 1948. Vol. 24, no. 2. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38164.
• Tecoan. Greenville, NC: East Carolina Teachers College, 1949. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15354.
• "U.S. Air Force ROTC." Tecoan. Greenville, NC: East Carolina Teachers College, 1952. Pp. 90-95. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15357.
• "Women in the AFROTC." Digital Collections # 25.15.4.1.004. J. Y. Joyner Library. East Carolina University. Greenville, NC. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56422.

---

Additional Related Material