The Officers Training Corps (OTC) is a part of the British Army that provides military training to students at British universities. Its members are classed as Officer Cadets and are members of the Territorial Army, paid when on duty. They can gain promotion to Junior Under Officer and Senior Under Officer and can also gain commissions as Second Lieutenants. Cadets have no obligation to join the armed forces when they leave university and can resign from the OTC at any time. The officers and non-commissioned officers, who function as instructors and administrative and support staff, are a mixture of Regular Army, Territorial Army and Non Regular Permanent Staff. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. ... In the United Kingdom the Territorial Army is a part of the British Army composed of reserve units, or part-time soldiers. ... Under Officer is a rank held by Officer Cadets at the British military academies, in the Officers Training Corps and sometimes in the Combined Cadet Force. ... Under Officer is a rank held by Officer Cadets at the British military academies, in the Officers Training Corps and sometimes in the Combined Cadet Force. ... In military organizations, a commissioned officer is a member of the service who derives authority directly from a sovereign power, and as such holds a commission from that power. ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ... In military organizations, a commissioned officer is a member of the service who derives authority directly from a sovereign power, and as such holds a commission from that power. ... A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer), or NCO, is an enlisted member of an armed force who has been delegated leadership or command authority by a commissioned officer. ... In the British Army, Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS - often pronounced as Nerps) are members of the Territorial Army who are employed on a full-time basis. ...

There are a number of OTCs throughout Britain, each of which serves the universities in a set area. Those serving larger areas may have several centres. Each OTC is effectively an independent regiment, with its own cap badge and other insignia, its own stable belt and its own customs and traditions. Each OTC is split into a number of sub units representing different corps of the army, which cadets join when they have completed their initial training. On 1 April 2003 there were 4,960 personnel in the OTCs. // Size and Composition A regiment is a military unit, larger than a company and smaller than a division. ... A cap badge is a badge worn on the front of uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearers organisation. ... A stable belt is an item of uniform used in the armed forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The OTC was founded during the Haldane Reforms in 1908 to remedy a critical shortage of officers during the South African War (1899-1902). Initially it had a senior division, in eight universities, and a junior division, in public schools. During the First World War, the senior OTCs became officer producing units and some 30,000 officers passed through, but after the war reverted to their basic military training role. During the 1930s they began to increase in strength and peaked in 1938 during the Munich Crisis, and in the Second World War they again became officer producing units for the army. In 1948, the senior divisions became part of the Territorial Army and women were accepted for the first time with the formation of Women's Royal Army Corps sub units (women are now fully integrated into all sections). The junior divisions, by then renamed the Junior Training Corps, became the Army Sections of the newly formed Combined Cadet Force. For the next ten years, the corps aim was to prepare students for National Service. 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Boer guerrillas during the Second Boer War There were two Boer wars, one in 1880-81 and the second from October 11, 1899-1902 both between the British and the settlers of Dutch origin (called Boere, Afrikaners or Voortrekkers) in South Africa that put an end to the two independent... A public school, in current British usage, is a (usually) prestigious school, for children usually between the ages of 11 or 13 and 18, which charges fees and is not financed by the state. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The Munich Agreement was an agreement regarding the Munich Crisis between the major powers of Europe after a conference held in Munich in Germany in 1938 and concluded on September 29. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Womens Royal Army Corps (WRAC - sometimes pronounced phonetically as rack, a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chaplains (who belonged to the same corps as the men) and nurses (who belonged... The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. ... National Service was the name given to the system of military conscription employed in the United Kingdom (although excluding Northern Ireland) between 1949 and 1960. ...

The mission statement of the Officers Training Corps is: To develop - through broad Army training and experience - leadership, knowledge, and skills in order to prepare individuals for positions of responsibility in the Regular Army, the Territorial Army, or elsewhere.

External links

• University of London Officers' Training Corps
• Northumbrian University Officers' Training Corps