2LT Christine Agatsuma Rigby

Army ROTC First Female Cadet Commissioned at the University of Colorado Boulder

2LT Christine Agatsuma Rigby – Commissioned as Signal Corp on May 21, 1976 Cadet Agatsuma Rigby accepting the Denver Post Award. After graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Therapeutic Recreation, Christine did active duty training for 3 months at Fort Gordon, Georgia...
SGM John Anderson, Cadre member from 1975-1981.

Cadre History – SGM John C. Anderson, 1975-1981

Cadre member Sergeant Major John C. Anderson, served with the Army ROTC Golden Buffalo Battalion from 1975-1981 at the University of Colorado Boulder SGM John Anderson, Cadre member from 1975-1981. Sergeant Major John C. Anderson was born in Riga, Latvia. He attended school there until the summer of 1944, when...
Roger Zimmerman, Roland West, and Harry Burcher

Cadet Zimmerman new rank added in 1957

Cadet Col. Roger Zimmerman receives his new insignia of rank from Col. Roland P. West and Col. Harry E. Burcher. Zimmerman was recently appointed as regimental commander for the Army ROTC Unit on the university campus. Col. West will replace Col. Burcher as professor military science and tactics in the...
Cadet Millard Hawley Smith in CU-Boulder 1951 Colorado Yearbook.

Member of the First Army ROTC Freshman Class of 1948

2LT Millard Hawley Smith – Commissioned in Engineering Corp in May 1952. He enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall, becoming a member of the first Army ROTC class as a freshman in 1948.
Photo provided by the University of Colorado Boulder Museum Archives – pictured Colonel Chester Lavaughn Landaker (photo circa 1948).

The first Professor of Military Science (PMS) of the Army ROTC program for the University of Colorado Boulder (1948-49)

COL Landaker served as the first Professor of Military Science (PMS) at the University of Colorado in Boulder between 1948-49.
The first CU-Boulder Army ROTC commissioning class of 1950. From left to right (front row): Donald C. McCarter, Donald L. Feller, Glenn R. Chafee, Jr. and Mark Chilton; (back row): Milton L. Wiley, Roger H. Nelson and William M. Parr. Photo courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder Library Archives, University Collection.

U.S. Army establishes an Engineer Unit of the ROTC in 1948 at the University of Colorado

Following World War II, the University again requested an Army ROTC program and in 1948 the Army established its first official ROTC program on campus. Limited to engineering, physics, geology, and chemistry students, the unit was designed to train officers to serve in various components of the Army.
Army ROTC "Vetsville" Quonset Hut (circa 1940s) - photo courtesy of the CU Heritage Center.

Vetsville

Article Published: March 1, 2009 Army ROTC "Vetsville" Quonset Hut (circa 1940s) - photo courtesy of the CU Heritage Center. During World War II the campus was filled with coeds and military personnel. Bolstered by the educational benefits of the GI Bill, fresh-faced youths were replaced after the war by...
Army ROTC Band on the quad (circa 1917) - photos courtesy of the CU Heritage Center.

THEN – World War I

Article Published: Dec. 1, 2017 The United States entered World War I early in 1917. University students and professors across the country enlisted. Campuses became military training grounds. When peace came in late 1918, an estimated 1,000 Coloradans were among the dead, including 55 CU Boulder alumni. Their names are...
Photo provided by the University of Colorado Boulder Museum Archives – pictured Captain James Alfred Merritt, Jr. (photo circa 1918)

The first commander of the Army ROTC program for the University of Colorado Boulder (1918-20)

CPT Merritt was placed again on active duty and served at Fort Bayard, New Mexico before being ordered to Boulder, Colorado to command the Army ROTC program at the University of Colorado in December 1917.
Students of the Voluntary Cadet Corps in 1888, in front of Old Main. Photo courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder Library Archives, University Collection.

CU-Boulder – the beginning of Army ROTC on campus (1883-1918)

In 1883, students at the University of Colorado Boulder established a voluntary cadet corps in order to drill in the schools of “the soldier and the company.”