Air Force, R.O.T.C. Historic Records, 1939-2017

Efforts to establish an Air Force training program at Central Washington University began in the fall of 1942 when President Robert E. McConnell sent telegrams to the United States War Department, the Secretary of the Navy and high ranking military and government officials offering all the facilities of the college to assist in the war effort. The Navy turned down President McConnell, stating that the college was too small for a training program. The Army, however, took up McConnell’s offer and after some improvements to the dorms and dining facilities, two hundred men of the 314th Army Air Force Training Detachment arrived on March 1, 1943. Two hundred more soldiers arrived the following week. From March of 1943 until late April of 1944, men of the 314th A.A.F. were trained to serve as air crews for fighter units. On May 1, 1944, the 3058th Army Air Forces Base Unit replaced the 314th A.A.F. Training Detachment. The 3058th A.A.F. Base Unit trained in Ellensburg until June 23, 1944, before being sent to other military posts.

President McConnell made attempts to retain the program but the war was winding down and the need for training facilities on college campuses were being reduced nationwide. In August of 1945, the Army Air Force Training Command sent a survey to the college in reference to the establishment of a post-war Air Reserve Officers Training Corps. Once again, campus facilities became a factor, along with low male student enrollment and no nearby armory. The Army chose not to select Central. Three years later in 1948, President McConnell applied to the Secretary of Defense for either an Army or Air Force R.O.T.C. unit. His efforts failed. When the United States became involved in the Korean conflict in the summer of 1950, McConnell lobbied regional congressman in Washington D. C. to establish a compulsory R.O.T.C. unit at the college. On April 20, 1951, Central Washington College of Education was selected to participate in the Air Force R.O.T.C. program. The official date of the program’s establishment was on July 1, 1951, and by the fall quarter, training was being conducted on the Ellensburg campus. Currently the Air Force R.O.T.C. Detachment 895 Cadet Wing resides and trains at Central Washington University.