Georgia Military College

Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military-focused educational institution in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, and middle school. It was originally known as Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, until 1900. Although it is a state-funded institution, GMC is not affiliated with either the University System of Georgia or the Technical College System of Georgia.

Georgia Military College
TypePublic independent junior college
Established1879
PresidentLieutenant General (Ret.) William B. Caldwell, IV
Administrative staff
150
Undergraduates8,260
Postgraduates0
Location
Milledgeville
,
Georgia
,
United States
CampusUrban, 25 acres (0.1 km²)
AthleticsBulldogs
ColorsRed and black
Websitewww.gmc.edu

GMC's main facility is housed in the [1] restored old Georgia state capitol building which was the seat of government for the State of Georgia from 1807-1868. The main campus in Milledgeville serves approximately 254 full-time, resident ROTC Cadets and 1300 commuter students. GMC's seven campuses, five extension campuses, and online campus serve nearly 14,000 students across Georgia.

GMC is one of four military junior colleges that participate in the U.S. Army's Early Commissioning Program. Students who graduate from GMC's two-year, military science-oriented curriculum receive an officer's commission in the U.S. Army. The junior college was established in 1879, and later added a preparatory school for students in sixth grade through twelfth grade.

GMC's military preparatory school for Cadets is in Baldwin County and has approximately 279 middle school students and 277 high-school Junior ROTC (JROTC) students. The preparatory school's dual enrollment program enables qualified sophomores, juniors, and seniors to attend classes at the junior college and the high school simultaneously, while earning credit for both their high school diploma and their college degree.

Campuses
Valdosta campus

In addition to the main campus in Milledgeville, GMC Junior College other campus locations and extension offices are located in Atlanta (Fairburn), Augusta, Columbus, Madison, Sandersville, Valdosta, Warner Robins, Fayetteville, Dublin, Eastman, Stone Mountain and Albany. The other campus locations serve as junior colleges to their local communities.

Georgia Military College Columbus Campus[2] is the only liberal arts junior college in Columbus. The Columbus campus opened at Fort Benning in 1997, moved to Cross Country Office Park in 2004, and into a newly-built facility at 7300 Blackmon Road in January 2013.[3]

GMC also operates a growing online campus.[4] This allows GMC to offer degrees to people who that work and don't have the time to come to campus, who are stationed overseas, or just enjoy going to school online. The online campus allows GMC to serve not just local but also global communities.

Corps of Cadets
Georgia's second capitol building, 1937, now part of Georgia Military College

GMC's Early Commissioning Program (ECP) is designed to enable students to become a second lieutenant in the US Army after the first two years in college. GMC offers funding specifically to help pay costs for Corps of Cadet members on the Milledgeville campus. The State Service Scholarship Program provides 39 full scholarships to qualified Georgia residents with an interest in military service as well as a quality college education. The program is funded through the Georgia General Assembly. Scholarship recipients are required to become members of either the Army or Air National Guard, and must be nominated by a member of the Georgia General Assembly. These scholarships cover tuition, fees, rooms, board, books and supplies. Scholarship winners must join the Corps of Cadets and participate in Army ROTC. Army ROTC scholarships are also available for qualified cadets interested in the Early Commissioning Program (ECP). These scholarships are funded through ROTC and cover tuition, fees, and books, plus a monthly stipend. There are various options for ROTC scholarship based on the student's desire for active duty or reserve component duty.

After completing studies at GMC, a transfer scholarship is available for those GMC graduates desiring to complete their four-year degree at Georgia's senior military college, the University of North Georgia (UNG) (formerly North Georgia College and State University, NGC&SU) in Dahlonega. Georgia is the only U.S. state with both a senior military college (UNG) and a military junior college (GMC). Combined, GMC and UNG currently have almost 900 cadets pursuing a commission in the U.S. Army.

One of the ways in which a student can become an ECP cadet is to attend the Cadet Initial Entry Training. The course is twenty-nine days long. Between the cadet's freshmen and sophomore years, the cadet will attend the Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Following AC, the cadet may be able to attend additional training with Army units all over the world and in the United States. After completing required training, the Cadet is commissioned as a U.S. Army officer at the end of his/her sophomore year. The ECP program allows cadets to become commissioned second lieutenants two years earlier than normal ROTC cadets and even West Point cadets. These commissioned army officers can then serve in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard. After completing their four-year degrees, they will be promoted as a first Lieutenant.

GMC opened its modern barracks (dorm) facility in January 2007 for the 254 students that comprise the Corps of Cadets. A new academic building and dining hall have recently been completed.

High school and middle school

Because it is part of JROTC, GMC's high school has mandatory 50-minute LET (Leadership, Education, Training) classes throughout the day. The school day is followed by a 50-minute period of marching on Davenport field three times a week.

After-school extracurricular activities include marching band, football, baseball, basketball, softball, rifle team, drill team, dance line, cheerleading, color guard, cross country, soccer, tennis, track, and raiders.

The school's middle school is modeled after the high school, having drill at the end of the day led by cadets.

History
1890 graduation class

Georgia Military College was created in 1879 by act of the Georgia General Assembly "to educate young men and women from the Middle Georgia area in an environment which fosters the qualities of good citizenship." It was the apparent intention of the General Assembly to establish the school as a unit of the slowly forming University System of Georgia. State property in Milledgeville, including the former state capital building which had been damaged by General William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea", was loaned to the University of Georgia by the Act of 1879, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Georgia was given veto powers by this Act over the acts of the local Board of Trustees of the new institution. The school was originally called Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College and was ceded state government lands surrounding the Old Capitol Building, the seat of government for the state of Georgia from 1807–1868. The Old Capitol Building, then as now, is the main college facility and sits on the highest point in Milledgeville. Former Confederate general Daniel Harvey Hill served as president from 1885 until August 1889, when he resigned due to failing health. (He died in Charlotte, NC on September 24, 1889.)[5][6] The 1890 graduating class was the first to include female students.

The college's intended purpose was to enable graduates to enter higher classes at the University of Georgia, to give training in agriculture and mining, and, finally, to train teachers.

The name of the school was changed to Georgia Military College in 1900. Legislative acts of 1920 and 1922 severed the relationship with the University of Georgia and gave the local board total power over the operations of the school. In 1922 the method of electing members of the Board of Trustees and filling vacancies on the board was changed. This act provided for a seven-member board to be elected from and by the citizens of Milledgeville, with trustees' terms staggered to provide continuity. In 1930 the official addition of a junior college division to the college-preparatory secondary school finally justified its name. In 1950 the Defense Department designated the institution a "military junior college." Today it is one of only four remaining US military junior colleges so designated.

Athletics

Georgia Military College competes in soccer, tennis, golf, cross country, softball, and football. The football program has firmly established itself as one of the finest junior college programs in the country. Since 1991, GMC has developed 36 All-Americans, won the Junior College National Championship in 2001, played for the national championship in 2002, played in eight junior college bowl games, and sent over 250 young men to continue their education and athletic careers at four-year institutions across the country. The football team finished the 2005 season ranked second in the nation.

On the golf course, the Bulldogs took home the 2004 NJCAA DIII National Championship Trophy, with Brendon O'Connell taking the individual title.

Alumnus Macoumba Kandji scored the game-winning goal in the 2010 MLS Cup, lifting the Colorado Rapids soccer team over FC Dallas.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "History - At a Glance - Georgia Military College". www.gmc.edu. January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  2. "Georgia Military College - A Liberal Arts Junior College". gmc411.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  3. OWEN, MIKE. "Columbus Council: Developer plans new Georgia Military College campus in north Columbus." Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, GA) 14 Mar. 2012,: NewsBank. Web. 12 Nov. 2012
  4. "Georgia Military College - A Liberal Arts Junior College". gmconlinecampus.net.
  5. Bridges, Hal. Lee's Maverick General: Daniel Harvey Hill. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1991, pp. 277–279. ISBN 0-8032-6096-2. First published 1961 by McGraw-Hill.
  6. Owen, Richard, and James Owen. Generals at Rest: The Grave Sites of the 425 Official Confederate Generals. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Co., 1997, p. 176 ISBN 1-57249-045-4.

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