The St. Mary’s University Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) Rattler Battalion has been organized in its present form since 1947, but can trace its lineage to 1932, when Lt. W.F. Cox was assigned to St. Mary’s as the professor of military science. The demands of World War II, however, forced the unit to deactivate for five years.

ROTC at St. Mary’s has evolved into an integral academic and administrative entity within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The faculty includes the professor of military science, who is the departmental chairperson and the representative of the U.S. Army to the University and vice-versa; and commissioned Army officers and non-commissioned officers.

Re-established after the war as a Field Artillery Unit, Rattler Battalion graduates brought honor and distinction to St. Mary’s in the Korean War and all wars and skirmishes in which the United States has been involved since World War II. It has commissioned more than 1,300 officers, including many general officers, ranging from brigadier to lieutenant general. Two of them, the late Lt. Gen. William Schneider and retired Lt. Gen. Marc Cisneros, served as the 5th U. S. Field Army commanders.

The highest-ranking Hispanic in the Armed Forces at the present time is alumnus Maj. Gen. Alfred Valenzuela, commander of the U.S. Army South at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico.

St. Mary’s has provided leadership in the U.S. Armed Forces with 17 alumni attaining the senior rank of general or admiral. Of these, 13 completed the St. Mary’s ROTC program.

• Maj. Gen. Edmond W. Boenisch Jr.
  (B.A. ’69), Air National Guard
• Lt. Gen. Marc A. Cisneros
  (B.B.A. ’61), Army
• Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Cody Jr.
  (B.S. ’40), Air Force
• Maj. Gen. Harold E. Collins
  (B.A. ’78), Air Force
• Brig. Gen. Frederick Dent Jr.
  (B.A. ’30), Army
• Brig. Gen. Gerald G. Fall Jr.
  (J.D. ’77), Army
• Maj. Gen. Belisario D.J. Flores
  (B.B.A. ’50), Air Force
• Brig. Gen Manuel R. Flores
  (B.S. ’63, M.B.A. ’70), Army
• Brig. Gen. Donald J. Gudinas
  (M.B.A. ’72), Army
• Rear Adm. John J. Higginson
  (B.A. ’54), Navy
• Brig. Gen. Wayne D. Marty
  (B.M.E. ’65), Army National Guard
• Brig. Gen. Gerald B. McConnell
  (B.B.A. ’57), Army
• Lt. Gen. Thomas H. McMullen
  (CL ’49), Air Force
• Lt. Gen. William H. Schneider
  (B.B.A. ’55), Army
• Brig. Gen. Connie L. Slewitzke
  (B.A. ’84), Army
• Brig. Gen Tommie G. Smith
  (B.A. ’70), Army
• Maj. Gen. Alfred A. Valenzuela
  (B.A. ’70, M.A. ’79), Army