History

Establishment

In 1981, then Rear Admiral Ed Briggs, USN, Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, requested that his Washington Recruiting District Advisory Council, a group of distinguished Washingtonians chaired by Captain Donald Morency, USNR, investigate the possibility of a local university willing to establish a consortium NROTC unit, the first of its kind in the Washington area.

Approval for the Consortium

After many discussions with officials from each of the universities in the area over the next year, the George Washington University was finally convinced that it should be the lead university in this effort.  The Washington Recruiting District Advisory Council accelerated the administrative process through the Department of the Navy and gained final approval for the consortium in 1983. The first class began in 1984.

Program Structure

Since the program’s inception, the George Washington University has accepted midshipmen from the Catholic University of America, Georgetown University, and Howard University.  The battalion is now composed of approximately 100 Navy and Marine-option Midshipmen, Navy Officer Candidates, as well as Active Duty Marines in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program.