As sweat ran down the faces of about 30 Naval Reserves Officers Training Corps (NROTC) alumni on Sunday, Sept. 6, the armory found itself host to those who were familiar with the grounds. Celebrating 70 years of Naval Excellence at NROTC, a reunion weekend was held from Friday to Sunday to help commemorate the accomplishments of the program.

In 1926, the first NROTC programs were established in six universities across the country to help provide college students with the necessary naval science courses to become commissioned in the Naval Reserve.

In the mid-1940’s, Iowa State implemented their own NROTC Unit that originated from the Navy V-12 educational program. This program was designed to train enlisted personnel and specialize them in technical fields such as electrical and diesel mechanics.

“The Navy sent their cooks and mechanics to be trained here,” said Capt. Douglas MacCrea, an Iowa State alumni, who retired in 2007 after being named professor and chair of naval science in 2004.

This V-12 program was implemented due to the need the Navy had to provide a technical education to its personnel. The program was designed to prepare men for the Navy’s officer Candidate Schools along with providing an increase to war-depleted student bodies of campuses across the country.

Following the success of Iowa State having one of the best Navy V-12 programs in the country, according to the NROTC website, the decision to approve Iowa State for a NROTC Unit was made.

Now, 70 years later, NROTC prides itself with the hundreds of young men and women the program has trained who decided to pursue careers in Navy and Marine Corps or have successfully pursued a civilian career.

Elizabeth Cothron, an Iowa State NROTC alum, traveled from Virginia to be here in Ames for the weekend. She became the first women to join the NROTC program back in the 1970s. Originally from Chicago, Cothron hasn’t been back to Ames since 2006, and before that, the year she graduated.

“I was incredibly surprised at what Ames looked like,” Cothron said. “I had a hard time finding myself around.”

Since the 1970s, MacCrea, who graduated in 1977, recalls some of the changes around the campus. MacCrea noted the NROTC program moving into the armory instead of its old location in the Black Engineering building, along with the addition of the College of Design. MacCrea stated that before the building was there, they used to do their marches on the empty field.

Cothron and her husband, Tony, who also served in the Navy, mingled with old friends and new acquaintances as they shared experiences with others who all have the same background.

Cothron remembers getting pizza, Dairy Queen or Hardee’s down in Dogtown, what ISU students currently refer to as Campustown.

Another, not as fond of memory that Cothron recalled was her uniform during an Iowan winter.

“There were no pants in the uniform for women,” Cothron said. Cothron’s uniform consisted of a shirt and skirt, the skirt not helping shield Cothron from the cold that she had to endure twice a week.

“Eventually, I got to wear boots in the winter, even though it was against Navy regulation,” said Cothron. However, pants were added to the women’s uniform during the winter months during her senior year.

MacCrea, who helped coordinate the events this weekend, reflected on being both in the NROTC program and being a full-time student.

“It’s a challenge, it’s a struggle. But these folks adapted,” MacCrea said. The minimum GPA a NROTC student has to maintain is 2.0. However, the average maintained GPA is 3.2 for NROTC students, noted MacCrea.

The picnic, which was the last event of the weekend, followed an evening social in downtown Ames on Friday, and a tailgate at Eggerling Gardens before the football game on Saturday. A performance by the color guard and drill team began at noon to kickoff the final event of the reunion.

The Armory opened its doors to allow Alumni to walk the halls and two big trees allowed shade for those who decided to stay outside and enjoy the barbeque.

Capt. Ricks Polk started the ceremony with a quick speech to thank all of those who could make it. As the picnic came to a small conclusion, NRTOC alumni jokingly said to each other, “see you in five years [for the 75th reunion.]”