Purdue University Scabbard and Blade collection

Scabbard and Blade is a national military honor society founded by five field officers at the University of Wisconsin. They organized in 1904-1905 what is now known as A Company, First Regiment. These five men were Charles A. Taylor, Victor R. Griggs, Albert W. Foster, Harold K. Weld and Leo Marshall Cook. The Society is recognized locally, state wide and nationally as an organization of high prestige and ideals.

Membership in the Society is by election only and is a lifetime membership. It is divided into four classifications: active, alumni, associate and honorary. Active members are chosen from outstanding cadet officers in the advanced course of Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC programs at the institution where the company is located. Alumni members are active members who are no longer enrolled in ROTC or the university. Nearly all of them are commissioned reserve officers. Associate membership includes civilian university officials, faculty members and active or retired commissioned officers. Honorary members are civilians elected to membership in the Society for their achievement of distinction and their valuable service in the promotion of national defense. Some of the most outstanding active members include former Secretary of State, Dean Rusk; astronaut, John W. Young; former President, Herbert E. Hoover; musician Phil Harris and astronaut, Eugene A. Cernan. As of 2014 there are approximately 137,000 cadet officers.

Purdue University's First Regiment, Company E, was formed in 1908.

Source: National Society of Scabbard and Blade. A Brief History and Pledge Manual of the National Society of Scabbard and Blade, Stillwater, OK (?): National Society of Scabbard and Blade, 1968. Print.