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About Us
A Brief History of Detachment 365 (Information from Hill Air Force Museum)
Jimmy Doolittle |
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photo
B-25s on board USS Hornet,
en route to raid on Tokyo, April 18, 1942. |
Detachment 365, also known as Doolittle's Raiders, lives
in the spirit of James H. Doolittle (1896-1993), who received
his master of science and doctor of science degrees in aeronautics
at MIT. His pioneering flights, technological contributions
to aviation, and infamous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942,
are an inspiration to all our cadets. They graduate from our
program with confidence, self-discipline and integrity, and
aspire to the great character and dedication to country of
leaders such as General Doolittle.
At Detachment 365, we are proud to continually produce superior
officers and leaders for our nation's military and to the
overall benefit of society. We support the "citizen-soldier"
concept, which contends that a military force created of the
people will best support its people. It is this integration
of military instruction in a civilian setting that brings
the citizen and the soldier together and in tune with the
other.
Though MIT is the main campus for Det 365, our students
also come from Harvard, Tufts, and Wellesley. As a result,
our graduates represent many of the nation's best and brightest
in both technical and non-technical career fields. They are
poised for exceptional service in the military as well as
in the civilian sects, particularly in this age of technological
advancement, medical breakthroughs and intense foreign relations
worldwide.
In addition to academic excellence, the prestige awarded
to our newly commissioned officers is also in part to the
military precedence at MIT. Since the school's opening in
1865, military courses were compulsory for nearly a century,
under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act requiring all
land grant institutions to provide military science courses.
The National Defense Act of 1916 brought this training under
a single, federally controlled entity - the Reserve Officers'
Training Corps (ROTC), and MIT launched the nation's first
ROTC program under the Army. It wasn't until the formation
of the USAF in 1947 that Air Force ROTC was offered at MIT
with the Navy following suit in 1956. All in all, over 12,000
officers have been commissioned from the tri-services, with
over 150 attaining the rank of General or Admiral.
We invite you to learn more about Det 365 and the many benefits
offered by Air Force ROTC—including scholarships and
career-broadening opportunities. Contact us by
e-mail or call 617-253-4475
for more information.
Apply for Scholarships
on the AFROTC website.
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