Origin of Reserve Officer Training Corps

The Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) originated in the United States of America. It dates from the passage of the Morill Act of 1862 which granted public land to the senator and representative of each state. These lands were to be sold; and then proceeds were to benefit educational institutions that would offer certain programs, including part-time military training, to their students. These schools, called "Land Grant Colleges", began to appear after the American Civil War.
The colleges were subsequently required by law to maintain Reserve Officer Training Corps units and offer training on a required basis for two of the four years of a baccalaureate course. The final two years of the training, which led to a reserve commission in either the Army or Navy upon graduation, were elective with the student.
Modern American ROTC gained much of its present form from the National Defense Act of 1916. Its organization, in turn, was partly based on the British Officer Training Corps, which supplied most of the British officer strength in World War I.
The program was envisioned to produce officers who would counterbalance the products of military academies. Since civilian educators viewed academy graduates as "isolated from their civilian contemporaries", ROTC products were to serve as vehicles of a value system that was more representative of that held by the remainder of American society. These soldiers were to be the embodiment of the 'citizen soldier' concept -- symbolized by the Minuteman.
Other countries have since established their own counterparts -- particularly those with historically strong ties with the United States. South Korea established its first ROTC units in 1969, while the Republic of China (Taiwan) established its own ROTC program in 1997.