Navy V-12

The V-12 Navy College Training program was an officer candidacy program active during World War II and was designed to supplement the NROTC program.  It required less training but ultimately resulted in a commission. Participants were required to take 17 academic units a semester and complete at least 9.5 physical training hours a week. The required curriculum was heavy on math and science courses.

At UCLA, the V-12 unit operated side by side, but separately, with the NROTC. Established on campus in 1943, it was deactivated soon after the war. The unit was comprised of both active members of the fleet as well as former college students. The uniforms resembled the enlisted service dress blue uniforms, colloquially referred to as the “crackerjack” uniform. Most V-12 participants were pre-medical, pre-legal, or business administration students and were very active in Navy intramural sports.

Sources: UCLA Southern Campus Yearbook, 1944 – 1946; Wikipedia article “V-12 Navy College Training Program;” “By the Old Pacific’s Rolling Water” by Arthur Munzig