The United States Department of Defense honored the University of Notre Dame’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) as the nation’s top Army collegiate program for the 2023-24 academic year.

This will be the first time Notre Dame’s Army ROTC Fightin’ Irish Battalion has received the department’s Educational Institution Partnership Excellence Award, which recognizes the program’s achievements in recruiting, educating, training and commissioning leaders of character to be the next generation of military officers.

The prestigious award, established in 2020, is given out annually to outstanding ROTC units and host educational institutions from each military branch and highlights overall program performance, student-cadet achievements and university support. With this honor, the Fightin’ Irish Battalion now ranks first out of 274 Army ROTC programs nationwide.

“Our Army ROTC cadets and leaders make us proud in so many ways, through their efforts in the classroom, their engagement across campus and their dedication to serving our nation,” said University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “The Fightin’ Irish Battalion truly embodies the best of Notre Dame, and I am delighted that their extraordinary efforts have been recognized with this prestigious award from the Department of Defense.”

Award builds on previous accomplishments

This national award follows the battalion’s receipt of the 7th Brigade General Douglas MacArthur Award for the 2023-24 academic year, which recognized the program’s high standing among 38 universities within the 7th Brigade (including ROTC programs in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio), and allowed the unit to become eligible for the Department of Defense’s Excellence Award.

The MacArthur Award showcases the ideals of “duty, honor and country” and is based on the achievements of the school’s commissioning mission, its cadets’ performance and standing on the command’s National Order of Merit List, and a number of various quality performance metrics. This is the second year in a row that Notre Dame’s Army ROTC unit has won this award, presented by Cadet Command and the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation.

Among its accomplishments, the Notre Dame Army ROTC unit produced 25 commissioned officers at the end of 2024, 11 of whom graduated with military distinction. Three were selected as Fulbright English Teaching Award finalists, with one winning the Fulbright Award to teach in the Czech Republic and another chosen to teach in France. The program maintained a 92 percent progression rate and a 38.6 percent STEM rate, with an overall battalion GPA of 3.59. Cadets representing 28 states across the U.S. comprise the 100-member unit, with 46 of those being female. This year’s unit included three pairs of siblings serving simultaneously, with 14 cadets having at least one parent who graduated from Notre Dame’s ROTC program.

“The Fightin’ Irish Battalion’s success can be attributed to our deep sense of devotion to our people,” said Lt. Col. William Kobbe, professor of military science and Army battalion commander at Notre Dame. “We emphasize a team-first attitude, fostering a culture of excellence and accountability to get better. We seek to embrace the University’s motto of ‘God, Country, Notre Dame’ each and every day.”

Kobbe has been named the 2024 Professor of Military Science of the Year by the U.S. Army Cadet Command for his dedication and commitment as leader of the Fightin’ Irish Battalion. In this role, Kobbe is responsible for training and mentoring the cadets, preparing them to serve their nation and others as future Army officers.

This annual award is given to military science professors who exemplify outstanding performance, leadership and mission success, based on candidates’ physical fitness, commissioning mission success, training accomplishments and contributions to their respective programs.

Battalion excels in Ranger Challenge and Sandhurst Military Skills Competition

Not only are student-cadets of the Fightin’ Irish Battalion taught to be goal-oriented, dedicated and academically focused, but they are also rigorously trained for physical performance and endurance. In October, the battalion’s team won the 7th Brigade Ranger Challenge competition at Fort Knox, Kentucky, securing the top spot for the third straight year. This competition brings Army ROTC teams from more than 30 universities within the five-state brigade to face one another in feats of military skills, physical fitness, leadership and combat readiness.

Winning the 2024 Ranger Challenge title qualified the team to compete in the annual Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Named after the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, this competition is regarded as one of the toughest military skills events in the world and brings together teams from across the U.S. Army and various ROTC programs, as well as international military units.

The team competed at the 2025 Sandhurst competition on May 2 and 3 and took home an impressive standing by placing 6th among all ROTC programs and 25th overall, securing its spot as one of the top programs in the country. Facing challenges in events such as fitness tests, land navigation (both day and night), ruck marches, one-rope bridge construction and weapons disassembly/assembly, among others, the Notre Dame rangers proved their ability to consistently perform and exhibit teamwork under intense circumstances.

“It is inspiring to witness the commitment to leadership excellence from all of our cadets, faculty and staff, which has led to the Fightin’ Irish Battalion’s exceptional accomplishments,” said Ken Heckel, director of Notre Dame’s Office of Military and Veterans Affairs (OMVA).

The OMVA is charged with supporting the University’s ROTC programs representing all three major branches of military service (Army, Air Force and Navy), as well as all military-affiliated individuals at the University.

“Notre Dame has a proud lineage of Army officers who have selflessly served our nation upon graduation and commissioning. The accomplishments of this group of future leaders ensure that this legacy will continue,” Heckel said.

About Notre Dame Army ROTC

Notre Dame’s long history of military service and training can be traced back to the University’s founding by Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., in 1842. Just 16 years later, in 1858, a student military company called the Notre Dame Continental Cadets was formed. During the Civil War, many Congregation of Holy Cross priests and sisters served in varying capacities, with Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s third president, being the most notable for his granting absolution to the Union Army’s Irish Brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg.

In 1941, Notre Dame became one of the first universities to host all three military branches with an affiliated ROTC program, with former University President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., signing official documentation in 1951 for the formal establishment of the Army ROTC program. Since then, thousands of men and women have been commissioned through the Army ROTC program and have served in every conflict where American forces have deployed.

In addition to serving abroad, members of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve support local and federal initiatives such as flood and natural disaster relief, Defense Support to Civil Authorities, and the operational ready reserve for the Active Duty component.

Esteemed graduates from Notre Dame’s ROTC programs include Gen. Bryan P. Fenton, a 1987 Army ROTC graduate, U.S. Special Operations Commander and recipient of the Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Award, and Adm. Christopher W. Grady, a 1984 Navy ROTC graduate, the vice chairman and acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Notre Dame’s 2025 Commencement speaker.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu