Baylor Air Force Rotc Ranked Among Top Four Nationally

WACO, Texas - The Baylor University Air Force ROTC detachment has been named the top unit in the ROTC Southwest Region of the United States which ranks it among the top four detachments in the country.
The Southwest Region is one of the four regions in the country. The region consists of 36 ROTC programs which includes the Universities of Southern California, California at Los Angeles, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. There are 144 ROTC detachments across the country.
Baylor was selected by Col. Joe Banks, the Commander of the ROTC Southwest Region of Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio. Banks said the rapid growth of the unit was a factor in its selection, however, he said its recent Inspector General (IG) evaluation was the primary reason for getting top honors.
"They have the largest cadet class they have had in 21 years, but what set the unit apart was its rating from the Inspector General," Banks said. "Baylor was clearly the best of the 36 units." The unit received a rating of excellent in all criteria of the IG evaluation.
Banks also said that university's willingness to supplement Air Force ROTC scholarships was a key tool in increasing the units recruitment efforts and said the award would not have been achieved without university support in this area.
The selection is recognition of the standards of excellence set and pursued by the students and staff of the unit, said Maj. Chester Replogle, commandant of cadets. "When I came here I told the cadets they should set the goal of becoming the number one detachment in the country," he said. "This award should be accredited to the hard work of the students and staff of the detachment."
Recent accomplishments of the detachment include a scholarship recruitment growth of 193 percent which was the best in the nation last year. The unit enrolled a record 66 students in the 1995 freshman class. The unit, which currently numbers about 135 students, is more than double its size in 1994 when there was less than 70 total students. The detachment was begun in 1948 and seven graduates of the program have reached the rank of general.
For more information, contact Replogle at (817) 755-3513.