The Student Army Training Corps was a program initiated by the War Department’s Committee of Education and Special Training in early 1918. Over 157 college and universities schools established it on their campus under command from the War Department and continued it up till the end of May of that following year; 1919(Brown 1). This was a milestone in the cooperation between educational institutions and the military institutions in training men for careers in the Army.  The Armistice, signed November 11, 1918, halted SATC’s progress before it even got off the ground, and many of the programs shut down before they had even finished their first semester.  Even though it didn’t last long, the program paved the way for the much more successful ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) that was founded in the later part of the 1930's. Much of the new program's structure came from the SATC template, and some former SATC cadets were hired to help get the program operational.

At St. Bonaventure's College SATC was as much a flicker of light in military history as a cigarette lighter is in a dark room. It was short lived, but it paved the way for the ROTC program which would be founded in 1936 at the request of Father Thomas Plassmann.  SATC was officially created in the summer of 1917 when Colonel Goldman was sent by the Army to run the program. St. Bonaventure's was transformed into a military training facility, with dormitories being turned into barracks and the dining hall into the Mess Hall. That semester students started to join and eligible males were recruited for the program. They studied military topics and were drilled in military doctrine. The program quickly grew from a couple of students to well over 50 men. It completed an entire semester and planned to expand the following school year. The program died after the Armistice was signed, and the students were either released or allowed to continue training for future Army careers at other military facilities. A banquet was held at the end of the semester on December 11, 1918 which officially ended the program. All Army equipment, spare parts, man-power, and financial resources were sent to Fort Drum. The following year the Society of S.A.T.C of St. Bonaventure's College was formed and many of the members continued to keep it alive until the 1950's. This group was created to maintain the bond which had formed among the students during their time training together, and an annual Banquet was held in Buffalo. 

Day-To-Day Operations

A thanks for sources from:

- The Saint Bonaventure Archives

- Brown, Marshall S. "Guide to the Records of the Student Army Training Corps:
1916-1921." 2002. 5/04/2011. <http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/archives/satc.html>

Last updated: 10/26/2011