Armstrong Closes Army Career By Initiating Two New Projects

Col. DeVere Parker Armstrong is closing 30 years of commissioned service in the regular Army with two projects he considers important for the future of the ROTC program.

First, he has recommended to higher military authorities a revision in the Ivy League Army ROTC program by eliminating the first term of freshman year and substituting a week's training before summer camp.

Second, he has embarked on an ambitious endowment fund to build the Department library into a worthwhile collection on military studies and national security. The Shannon Fund, named after Col. James T. Shannon, commander of the Harvard Regiment in World War I, has, at latest count, collected $1760 of its $5000 goal.

His reconstruction of the standard ROTC program is based on the idea that local situations demand different solutions. An all-volunteer Ivy unit will face different problems than a land-grant college, which has required ROTC. Hence, his solution claims to reduce the amount of on-campus time taken up by strict ROTC material.

For the Army library in Shannon Hall, the Colonel hopes that the endowment funds will permit the collection to be constantly renewed with up-to-date books, particularly on problems of national security. At present, the library is small, but comprehensive. Its utility, however, is strongly dependent upon constant additions which can only come through a special endowment.

Closing a varied career, Col. Armstrong will add to his teaching experience when he goes to the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn., starting next fall. There he will head the junior ROTC program and teach American history. He has also taught Social Sciences at West Point and war planning at the Army War College.

Col. Armstrong commanded the artillery battery which fired the first atomic round. At the Nevada proving grounds, he had men from the Artillery School and numerous civilian scientists under his command.