Officer Training Corps - Definition

The Officers Training Corps (OTC) is a part of the British Army that provides military training to students at British universities. Its members are classed as Officer Cadets and are members of the Territorial Army, paid when on duty. They can gain promotion to Junior Under Officer and Senior Under Officer and can also gain commissions as Second Lieutenants. Cadets have no obligation to join the armed forces when they leave university and can resign from the OTC at any time. The officers and non-commissioned officers, who function as instructors and administrative and support staff, are a mixture of Regular Army, Territorial Army and Non Regular Permanent Staff.

There are a number of OTCs throughout Britain, each of which serves the universities in a set area. Those serving larger areas may have several centres. Each OTC is effectively an independent regiment, with its own cap badge and other insignia, its own stable belt and its own customs and traditions. Each OTC is split into a number of sub units representing different corps of the army, which cadets join when they have completed their initial training. On 1 April 2003 there were 4,960 personnel in the OTCs.

The OTC was founded during the Haldane Reforms in 1908. Initially it had a senior division in universities and a junior division in public schools. During the First World War, the senior OTCs became officer producing units, but after the war reverted to their basic military training role. During the 1930s they began to increase in strength, and in the Second World War they again became officer producing units for the army. In 1948, the senior divisions became part of the Territorial Army and women were accepted for the first time with the formation of Women's Royal Army Corps sub units (women are now fully integrated into all sections). The junior divisions, by then renamed the Junior Training Corps, became the Army Sections of the newly formed Combined Cadet Force.