The Officers' Training Corps

The OTC's mission statement is "To develop the leadership potential of selected university students through enjoyable training in order to communicate the values, ethos and career opportunitities of the British Army". It was founded in 1908 to remedy a critical shortage of officers during the South African War of 1899 - 1902. It started with a senior division in 8 universities and a junior division in public schools. During the First World War the senior OTC became officer-producing units and some 30,000 officers passed through, but after the war they reverted to their basic military training role. During the 1930s they began to increase in strength and peaked in 1938 during the Munich crisis. 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. The junior divisions were renamed the Junior Training Corps and they became the Army Sections of the Combined Cadet Force. Their aim was to prepare students for National Service.