About Us

History

"WE CAN, WE WILL"

The Suncoast Battalion lineage began in July 1975 with the approval of a cross-town enrollment agreement between the University of South Florida (USF) and the senior ROTC program at the University of Tampa (UT). On July 1, 1976, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) established the Tampa Area Instructor Group (TAIG). This consortium of Cadre taught Cadets at UT, USF Tampa, USF St. Petersburg (USF SP), Hillsborough Community College, Florida Southern College, Southeastern College, Polk Community College, St. Petersburg College. On November 7, 1979 by authority of General Order #2, a Senior ROTC "Bulls" Battalion was
established on the USF Tampa campus. The "Bulls" Battalion grew and eventually became the "Suncoast Battalion" with the addition of cross-enrollment agreements between USF, Eckerd College, Hillsborough Community College, Saint Leo University, Saint Petersburg College and Pasco-Hernando State College. In March 2007 the U.S. Army Cadet Command (USACC) established USF as one of two "Super Host" Senior ROTC programs within the state of Florida. This doubled the size of the Cadre authorizations, tripled the Scholarship
allocations, which in turn will double the size of the Cadet population.

In April 2007 the Academic Programs Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences at USF St. Petersburg unanimously approved ROTC classes to be offered and taught on its campus beginning in Fall 2007. Currently, the Suncoast Battalion continues to place in the top 10% of the 278 Senior ROTC programs in the nation. Our motto "We Can, We Will," is a testament to the dedication, professionalism and esprit de corps of both the Cadre and Cadets. We vow never to tarnish the sacred trust our nation places upon us as we train to lead the
most precious resource our country has to offer; "Soldiers!"