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Since its inception, Pershing Rifles at MIT has been dedicated to training cadets and midshipmen to become the finest soldiers, sailors, and airmen in the U.S. military.

This tradition began in 1948 when MIT's Pershing Rifles unit was first chartered as H Company, 5th Regiment. By the mid-1960s, this group, at that time called the MIT Counterguerilla Unit, was executing field training exercises in what was to become the tradition of small-unit tactics development that has become the hallmark of the company.

The climax of these exercises was likely the 1967 attack on Massachusetts' Buzzards' Bay, a cooperative effort with local authorities, who attempted to defend critical components of the area's infrastructure against the Black Berets of MIT and several other local schools.

The Vietnam War created a strong incentive for Pershing Riflemen to train tactically, and that tradition has carried on to this day. Small unit tactics still form the core of the training program each new member completes before joining the company, and C-12 members are consistently among the most tactically proficient members of their cadet corps.

We have a strong history of field training exercises behind us, and we are carrying it on into the future, using new equipment and technologies as they become available, while continuing to train in the time-tested tactics our graduates have used before us. C-12 is ready to attack, whether it be by land...

by sea...

or by air...

We aim not just for mere competence in military skill, but for excellence, training under both favorable and adverse conditions, and in both conventional and unconventional techniques. Whether combat takes us to the field or to a dense urban environment, we will be ready.

One thing we don't do is shy away from hard work. We demand only the best from ourselves and prospective members. Our training program develops the physical and mental toughness characteristic of a Pershing Rifleman, and we constantly push ourselves to seek self-improvement.

If you are interested in joining a group of driven, motivated, successful cadets and midshipmen with a long history of excellence and an esprit de corps second to none, we invite you to join one of our semesterly training programs. Pershing Rifles is not for everyone, but if you are up to the challenge, a beret and a warm welcome await you.