Military Science Department

A unit of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps was established at The College of William and Mary on July 1, 1947, with an assigned mission to qualify students for positions of leadership and management in the United States Army and the civilian sector. By participating in the ROTC program a student may earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Active Army, the United States Army Reserve or the Army National Guard, while pursuing an academic degree. The program offers a general military science and leadership curriculum which enables a cadet to qualify for assignment into any one of the 16 branches of the Army.

The Military Science and Leadership Department is a joint program with Christopher Newport University. Classroom courses are taught at the College of William and Mary, with field leadership training conducted at sites such as Ft. Eustis, the Mariner's Museum, and in Matoaka Woods at the College of William and Mary.

In the News

ROTC: Sharing a Mother's Day commissioning

Jennifer Purser (r) and her mother. By Scott Elmquist.

Senior Jennifer Purser was commissioned May 10 as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army by her mother, Brigadier General Leslie Purser.

W&M Commissions New Second Lieutenants

The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor with newly commissioned Lieutenants

This past May, the William and Mary ROTC Department commissioned seven new Second Lieutenants into the Army. Two more will be commissioned once they finish training this summer.

Perspectives

Jenny with two of her squad-mates at LDAC, getting

For Jenny Purser '08, A Lot of Self-Confidence and Strong Connections

With both of her parents serving in the U.S. Army, Jenny Purser was raised in the midst of military culture. "I was a tomboy as a kid," she explained. "I couldn't see myself doing anything else."

Kris and Alyssa Waldhauser pass through the airport in Atlanta. Courtesy of the Waldhausers.

From green and gold to red, white and blue

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Gates takes part in ROTC affirmation ceremony;
Meaning of sacrifice learned on the frontlines

Theirs is a William and Mary love story -- but with a different kind of epilogue.

Kris and Alyssa Waldhauser (’00) met their freshman year during Army ROTC orientation and dated while going through the program together. Like many College couples, they married shortly after graduating. But unlike many others, the two soon found themselves deployed to Iraq at the same time, where Kris led a platoon as a tank commander and Alyssa flew wounded soldiers to receive care as a medical evacuation helicopter pilot.

Through everything -- from classrooms to combat zones -- they leaned on each other.

“Kris was my sanity through it all,” Alyssa said. “Even through ROTC when I thought it was hard and before I got reality, he was my rock and what kept me sane. Writing to him everyday was about the only thing that kept me in the game. I wrote him a novel every day. English was my major and it was very, very obvious.”

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