V-12 Navy College Training Program

The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943 and June 30, 1946, over 125,000 men were enrolled in the V-12 program in 131 colleges and universities in the United States.

V-12 participants were required to carry 17 credit hours and 9-1/2 hours of physical training each week. Study was year-round, and the number of terms for a trainee depended on his previous college background, if any, and his course of study. From the V-12 program, most of the Navy candidates went on to a four-month course at a reserve midshipmen's school, and the Marine candidates went to boot camp and then to the 12-week Officer Candidate Course at Quantico, Virginia. The curriculum was heavy on math and science for "regulars" (those entering college for the first time). Those students who already had some college credit, or "irregulars," were allowed to continue in their majors with the addition of courses in mathematics and science.

Notable V-12 veterans

*Frederick C. Branch, first African American United States Marine Corps officer (Purdue University)
*M. Scott Carpenter, Project Mercury astronaut (Colorado College & Saint Mary's College of California).
*Zig Ziglar, author, salesperson, and motivational speaker (University of South Carolina).
*Warren Christopher, 63rd U.S. Secretary of State (University of Redlands)
*Samuel Gravely, first African-American Admiral (UCLA & Columbia University)
*Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Senator (Bates College & Harvard University)
*Jim Fitzgerald, businessman and philanthropist (University of Notre Dame)
*Johnny Carson, television personality (Millsaps College)
*Jack Lemmon, actor (Harvard University)
*Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York (Tufts University)
*Leo Ryan, U.S. Congressman killed in Guyana before the Jonestown Massacre (Bates College)
*William Styron, novelist and essayist (Duke University)
*Bernard M. Gordon, inventor and philanthropist.
*Howard Baker, U.S. Senator from Tennessee (University of the South & Tulane University)
*Bowie Kuhn, Baseball Commissioner (Franklin & Marshall College & Princeton University)
*George Allen, football coach, (Alma College & Marquette University)

External links

* [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~uscnrotc/V-12/v12-his.htm V-12 History]
* [http://www.bates.edu/x53874.xml V-12 at Bates College]
* [http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/FAs/na1000-125.html V-12 at Wesleyan University]