Economic Impacts

Though the Committee on Education and Special Training (CEST) had trouble with many aspects of the SATC, the program was partially successful in its goal of training officers and specialists for the Army. At two schools in Virginia, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Hampton Institute, SATC men were consistently transferred to Army camps for further instruction. At VMI, members of the collegiate SATC unit were constantly reassigned to further study in field artillery, coastal artillery, aviation, and machineguns. However, VMI’s reputation would force it into a tough economic situation.

The History of Virginia Military Institute

VMI had a long history of military training. Founded on November 11, 1839, VMI grew in size throughout the 19th century and was heavily involved with the Civil War. Thomas J. Jackson, better known as Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson, was a member of the VMI faculty until the outbreak of the war. The VMI cadets were activated for Confederate military service fifteen time throughout the conflict and fought at the Battle of New Market. By the early 1900s, the school had expanded to 700 cadets and 1,400 VMI almuni served during World War I.1

Manpower Depletion

During World War I, the school’s status as a military college and its legacy of military service made it an ideal spot for the Committee on Education and Special Training (CEST) to establish both a regular collegiate SATC unit and a Marine unit. In September 1918, VMI had around 600 cadets and rapidly began inducting a majority of them into the SATC. Delays in receiving the proper paperwork delayed inductions however, and by October 15, only 136 men had been inducted into a unit expected to be 500 men strong.2 There were approximately 400 more cadets eligible for induction and a waiting list was created due to the demand to join the SATC unit.3

VMI cadets on parade. Image Source: National Archives.

Despite VMI hurrying to induct as many cadets as possible and the significant reserve of men, the CEST was quickly depleting VMI’s manpower. By October 22, the unit at lost over 108 men from transfers to other military units.4 Additionally, on October 19, the CEST sent a telegram to VMI requesting a list of SATC men eligible for “admission into Central Officers’ Training Schools (COTS) for Infantry, Field Artillery, and Machine Gun training.”5 Almost the entire SATC unit, except those in the Marine section, were eligible for admission into officer training schools.

The number of SATC members from VMI who were transferred by October 22 and where they were sent.6

Economic Disaster

By late October, the situation at VMI was growing desperate. Between transfers to other Army camps for further training, transfers to specialty schools, and the CEST looking to admit more men into COTS, VMI was staring at financial disaster. The school had planned on teaching approximately 600 cadets for the 1918-1919 academic year and without the income from tuition, it would be difficult to keep the school open.7

On October 22, the Acting Superintendent of VMI, Hunter Pendleton, sent a letter to the CEST explaining the situation. While Pendleton acknowledged the “compliment indirectly paid” to VMI by the CEST consistently transferring men out of its SATC unit, he urged that the gaps be filled by transferring men from cantonments (regular Army training camps) to avoid financial hardship. He went on to state that the SATC at VMI would be reduced to around 350 men and it would continue to decrease.8

The situation grew so bad that an article was published about it in the News Leader, a Richmond, VA based paper. The article outlined the situation at the school, stating that within a month, “practically every cadet in the students’ army training corps units at the institute will be called away to officers’ training camps.”9 The article also served as an advertisement, with Major E.W. Nichols, the commanding officer at VMI, announcing that “applications from young men who wish to take up the training courses offered at the institute would be considered in the order of their receipt at his office.”10

Article from The News Leader about the manpower situation at VMI.11

Temporary Solutions & Armistice

On October 26, the CEST replied to Hunter Pendleton’s concerns, stating that they were in the process of creating a plan to fill the vacancies. In the meantime, VMI should keep their unit at full capacity by inducting men off the wait list, preferably “physically fit registrants who will be eligible for the S.A.T.C.”12

Despite recognizing the situation, the CEST continued to request men from VMI’s SATC unit through the first part of November. It would be the Armistice, not the CEST, that would save VMI from financial disaster. On November 14, three days after the Armistice, the CEST ordered that the SATC would stop inducting men and on November 19, the CEST gave all SATC men who had transferred to COTS the option of returning to the college they came from.13 It is unclear how many men returned to VMI, but the fact that cadets would not be constantly pulled away by the CEST meant that VMI’s financial problems were solved.

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Notes:

  1. “History of the Institute – About – Virginia Military Institute,” accessed March 5, 2023, https://www.vmi.edu/about/history/.
  2. Report from 2nd Lt. A.L. Jones to VMI Commandant dated October 15, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA; Report from VMI Acting Superintendent to The Committee on Education and Special Training dated October 22, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  3. Telegram from Major E.W. Nichols to CEST dated October 11, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA; Memo from The Committee on Education and Special Training to The Acting Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute dated October 26, 1918,ox SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  4. Report from VMI Acting Superintendent to The Committee on Education and Special Training dated October 22, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  5. Letter from The Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute to The Committee on Education and Special Training dated October 23, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  6. Report from VMI Acting Superintendent to The Committee on Education and Special Training dated October 22, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  7. Report from VMI Acting Superintendent to The Committee on Education and Special Training dated October 22, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  8. Report from VMI Acting Superintendent to The Committee on Education and Special Training dated October 22, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  9. “Cadets Will Go To Training Camps Within Month,” The News Leader, October 25, 1918, Home Edition, sec. 2, https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=NEL19181025.1.2&e=——191-en-20–1–txt-txIN-%22army+training+corps%22——-Richmond%2c+VA.
  10. “Cadets Will Go To Training Camps Within Month,” The News Leader, October 25, 1918, Home Edition, sec. 2, https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=NEL19181025.1.2&e=——191-en-20–1–txt-txIN-%22army+training+corps%22——-Richmond%2c+VA.
  11. “Cadets Will Go To Training Camps Within Month,” The News Leader, October 25, 1918, Home Edition, sec. 2, https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=NEL19181025.1.2&e=——191-en-20–1–txt-txIN-%22army+training+corps%22——-Richmond%2c+VA.
  12. Letter from Lt. Colonel Grenville Clark, CEST to The Acting Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute dated October 26, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 October, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.
  13. Telegram from CEST District Inspector Major C. Towner to Commanding Officer Virginia Military Institute dated November 14, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 November, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA; Memo from P.H. Daggett, Acting District Educational Director to Presidents of all Institutions with S.A.T.C. Units dated November 19, 1918, Box SF047, Folder SATC Correspondence 1918 November, World War I Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) and Training Camps Records, 1917-1919, Office of the Superintendent, administrative subject files, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.