The Navy’s Search for Black Officers through ROTC and the Edge of Institutional Change

This chapter will examine the condition of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and the challenges it faced in the late 1960s and into the mid-1970s. Particular attention will focus on the Navy ROTC program and the first one ever established at a historically black college and university (HBCU), Prairie View A&M University (PV) 1 , and the Navy’s minority Recruiting Command selection process for potential officers. The critical push and pull factors that influenced these events occurred during the twilight era of the Civil Rights Movement, the restructuring of the United States military after the phasing out of the draft, and the implementation of the All-Volunteer Force in July of 1973.