On 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force became a separate and equal branch in the Department of Defense. After World War II General Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the General Order No. 124 which established Army Air Force ROTC detachments at 77 universities and colleges across the nation. With the establishment of the US Air Force these detachments became separate from Army ROTC. One of these new units was Detachment 800 at the University of Tennessee, beginning in 1947. Air Force ROTC continued to grow in numbers of cadets and locations where they can obtain a commission. In 1973 active duty Air Force enlisted men and women pursuing a college degree could compete for the Air Force ROTC Airman Scholarship and Commissioning Program to receive their commissions. Since 1993 Air Force ROTC has fallen under Air Education and Training Command.
In addition, after the merging of Air Force ROTC and Officer Training School, the two are now commanded by Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools. Today Air Force ROTC has four region headquarters, 144 detachments, and over 900 cross
town universities.
Detachment 800 at the University of Tennessee has trained Air Force officers for over 80 years. They come from a university rich in history academically and militarily.
Volunteers have served their nation in every war from the French and Indian War to the Global War on Terror. Each cadet here, from 1844 to the present, has one thing in common.
THEY VOLUNTEERED!
