The Armory

The Armory. . Home to the University of Oklahoma's Army and Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps, the Armory accommodates the training of student cadets and midshipmen. Military training programs at OU were born during the last days of World War I in April 1917 when Student Body President Josh Lee, who later served as a U.S. Senator, called a meeting of all male students for the purpose of determining the university's role in contributing to the national defense. With the help of the university's third president, Stratton D. Brooks, the precursor to OU's ROTC program was created, known as the Student Volunteer Regiment. Later in that year, the newly formed State Board of Regents for Higher Education passed a resolution requiring all male students to participate in a year-long military training program, which remained a requirement of university students for nearly 50 years. , Heading the formally organized Student Volunteer Regiment were Captain C.D. Dudley. a retired Army officer, and Major R.C. Terrell, a professor of engineering. The cadets drilled for an entire year with wooden rifles carved by these two faculty advisors to prepare for recognition by the War Department as an official ROTC unit. The Army ROTC unit at OU has twice been awarded the MacArthur Award which honors the top university units in the nation. , The Armory was constructed in 1919 for $65,000. The Professor of Military Science, Captain Carl A. Baehr, and his staff of three officers and thirty-three enlisted men were the first to occupy the new building. There were individual arms for cadets, sixty horses, nine artillery pieces, tractors, trucks, and observation and touring cars. , In 1940, the Navy ROTC was established through the work of the sixth president of the university, Dr. William Bennett Bizzell, and OU mathematics professor and retired U.S. Navy Commander J.C. Van de Carr. At that time, there were only 9 other Navy ROTC units active in the nation and Oklahoma was among the very first established inland Navy ROTC programs. , During World War II, a wartime program called V-12 was created at OU to meet the demand for Naval officers. When the V-12 initiative ended on June 30, 1946, about half of the four hundred V-12 students transferred into the Navy ROTC program. Also in 1946, President Truman authorized Public Law 729 which assigned a Marine Corps officer to instruct the unit and gave participants the option to receive regular commissions in the Marine Corps. , The flag plaza on the east side of the building was funded by a gift from unit alumnus Dr. William W. Talley for the Navy ROTC's 50th anniversary in 1990.