History

In 1984 Major General Joseph Ambrose and Emil Fleischaker, members of the Class of 1942, chose the name "Harvard ROTC Alumni" for an informal association of alumni and mends to support the participation of Harvard students in ROTC. (Harvard students had been participating in ROTC at MIT since 1976.) With about 200 names on their mailing list, they invited "members" to pay "dues" of $10 per year to provide annual awards for outstanding cadets and midshipmen and to cover the expenses of the annual commissioning ceremony in Harvard Yard. For several years Gen. Ambrose personally presented the Harvard ROTC Alumni Awards at MIT and presided over the commissioning ceremony. In 1988 Commander Richard Bennink '38 invited his classmate former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger to be the principal speaker and thereby initiated a 50th Reunion tradition that has been maintained by all subsequent classes. After Gen. Ambrose passed away in 1996, the status of the "Alumni Fund" was uncertain for a few years, but in 1999 it was reactivated and in 2000 the Harvard ROTC Alumni Fund, Inc., was incorporated and received preliminary approval by the Internal Revenue Service to operate as a tax-exempt publicly supported charity. In March 2005 the IRS approved the Alumni Fund as a Section 501(c)(3) charity.

Leadership

Emil Fleischaker was the first president and was president emeritus when he passed away in 2005. The current officers are Malcolm Hill '59, president; Maj. Gen. Robert Davenport '44, clerk; and Co!. James Metcalf '67, treasurer. The other directors are Cdr. Richard Bennink '38, Lt. Cdr. John Lowell '44, Eugene Reilly '44, and Warren Schur '69.

Recent Activities

The Fund continues to support the traditions initiated by Gen. Ambrose, Emil Fleischaker, and Cdr. Bennink. The Fund works with the undergraduate Harvard ROTC Association, a recognized student organization at Harvard, to develop educational activities for the benefit not only of cadets and midshipmen but also of the university community. The Fund also supports activities of the Advocates for Harvard ROTC. In recent years the Alumni Fund has supported the following activities:

• The annual Harvard ROTC Alumni Awards to outstanding cadets and midshipmen. Originally these awards were plaques, but since 2004 we have presented books.
• The Harvard ROTC Aviation Award, created in 2004 at the suggestion of a donor, to encourage cadets and midshipmen to pursue careers in military aviation. The Aviation Award was presented in June 2004 to Ensign Daniel Walker '04 and in April 2005 to Cadet William Conners '05.
• An annual breakfast at the Harvard Faculty Club for cadets and midshipmen with National Security Fellows in the Kennedy School of Government who volunteered to serve as mentors in the 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years.
• The commissioning ceremony in Harvard Yard (invitations, programs, military band, photographer, and catered reception) in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
• Support of a cadet who participated in the US Military Academy Advanced Individual Academic Program in June 2003.
• Support of a cadet who participated in a conference of the Harvard College in Asia Project in March 2006.
• Partial support of a workshop for Army ROTC faculty from New England and New York that was hosted at MIT and Harvard in October 2002.
• Printing and distribution of newsletters of the Advocates for Harvard ROTC.

In February 2005 the Alumni Fund published a five-year report, describing its origins, activities, and goals and acknowledging its donors. Interested parties may obtain copies by writing to the Fund at the address given below.

Financial status as of December 31, 2005

The Alumni Fund received $15,676 in donations in 2005, for which the directors are deeply grateful. The Fund expended $13,417 during the year and had a year-end balance of $15,741.