ROTC Essay Fellowship Fact Sheet: 2024 Criteria for Submission
The Military Historical Society of Massachusetts (MHSM) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Essay Fellowship is open to cadets and midshipmen enrolled in a Senior ROTC program at any New England college or university. The winning essay will be included in the Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, a journal in periodic publication since 1881, and also awarded a total sum of $4,000 consisting of a $2,500 Fellowship check to the selected cadet/midshipman author and a $1,500 donation to support the study of military history at the winning author’s ROTC program. In addition, the winning author and the ROTC command representative will each receive a MHSM membership for one year.
Essays must be a minimum of 3,000 words and submitted in accordance with the following criteria:
- Chicago-style formatting (The Chicago Manual of Style) shall be used.
- Citations will be in endnotes; bibliographies are required.
- Manuscripts shall be double-spaced, typed in 12-point font with 1-inch margins, and in PDF format.
- Each school may submit up to six (6) essays.
- Essays must be submitted via email to mhsmrotcessaycontest@gmail.com.
- The submission deadline is March 1, 2024.
- The winning essay will become property of the MHSM for publication as described above.
A Committee appointed by the MHSM and composed of qualified individuals will judge all submitted essays. The top three (3) essays as judged by the Committee will be provided to the Chair, who will select the final winner.
Cadets and Midshipmen as well as ROTC Cadre are invited to submit any questions regarding the ROTC Essay Fellowship to this address.
ROTC Essay Fellowship Contest Topic 2024
Why Study Military History?
Why is the study of military history important for your future as a military officer?
Provide specific examples from your reading, notes and a bibliography.
Current Essay Contest Winner
2023 Winner: Cadet Conner Huey: Baptism by Fire: Leadership Lessons from Kasserine Pass and its Modern Applications, Harvard University
Cadet Conner Huey, Paul Revere Battalion, MIT Army ROTC
Past Essay Contest Winners
2022 Winner – Cadet Joseph Hobbs Essay: The Changing Nature of Warfare
2020 Winner – Cadet Hammalian Essay: Strategic Logistics and Logistical Strategies: How the Allies Triumphed in Europe
2019 Winner – Cadet Easun Arunachalum Essay: Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps: Progress and Prospects
2018 Winner – Cadet Lucy Lee Essay: Cryptography in the First World War
2017 Winner – Cadet Eva Lisowski Essay: An Ordinary Hero
2016 Winner – Cadet Eric Koch Essay: American Spirit: The Yankee Division in the First World War
2015 Winner – Cadet Jocelyn Bly Essay: Mission Command: A Timeless Weapon
2014 Winner – Cadet James Kiefner Essay: Portrait of General Ulysses S. Grant (Un-titled essay)
2013 Winner – Cadet Daniel Silva Essay: From Revolution to Rapprochement | The War of 1812: The Causes, the War, the Legacy
2010 Winner – Cadet Garrett Brnger Essay: A War Fought from Both Sides: The ignored lessons of the American Revolution and their application to Vietnam
2009 Winner – Cadet William Mathews Essay: The Foreseeable Victory: A Justification for the Federal Use of Force in the Civil War
2008 Winner – Cadet Spencer Reese Essay: Washington’s Principle: Civil-Military Relations 1776-2008