Honor School

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Staunton Military Academy Alumni Association</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Staunton Military Academy Alumni Associa"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="history1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Earliest Records"><U>Earliest Records</U></A>   |   <A HREF="history2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Beginning"><U>The Beginning</U></A>   |   <A HREF="history3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ownership Sale"><U>Ownership & Sale</U></A>   |   <A HREF="history4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Final Days"><U>The Final Days</U></A>   |   <A HREF="history5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Loeffler Obit"><U>Loeffler Obit</U></A>   |   <A HREF="history6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SMA Alumni Association"><U>SMA Alumni Association</U></A>   |   <A HREF="history7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rest of the Story"><U>Rest of the Story</U></A>   |   <A HREF="smalogo.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SMA Cadet Logo"><U>SMA Cadet Logo</U></A>   |   <A HREF="howierifles.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Howie Rifles"><U>Howie Rifles</U></A>   |   <B>Honor School</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="03f393d0.gif" border=0 width="57" height="61" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="13796b13.gif"> <div> <I>Honor School</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="119" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 216 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="14e6dd20.jpg" border=0 width="109" height="210" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>ROTC Honor School</B></div> <bR> <div> Staunton Military Academy (SMA) was the first military preparatory school in the south to be rated by the War Department as one of the Honor Schools of the United States, and for several years, it was the only one.</div> <div> In January 1917, the War Department issued orders constituting Staunton Military Academy a unit in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, and allowed a detail from the Army of three commissioned officers and four non-commissioned officers.</div> <div> The term "Honor School", as used by the War Department, pertained purely to military apptitude, training and efficiency of the students as an organized unit of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). The "Honor School" rating thus pertained to the <I>military</I> efficiency of the ROTC unit; the high academic rating being recognized by SMA's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Inspection boards from the Department of the Army's General Staff made the "Honor School" selections each year following an on-site General Inspection (GI).</div> <div> The adequacy of SMA's military training was evidenced by the fact that in each of its last 50 plus consecutive years, the Army has rated SMA in the highest category "Honor School."  Because of its excellent ROTC training and rating, the SMA graduate with a good record was in a preferred position, when he entered college, to be selected for the senior course of the ROTC.</div> <div> The round patch with a star in the middle placed just above "US/ROTC" on the lower right sleeve was the designation worn to denote "ROTC Honor School" status.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>