SABER, Inc.
Scabbard & Blade Second Century Project
        

A NEW BEGINNING FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM

• Now entering its second century of service, the National Society of Scabbard and Blade, looks to the future with renewed vigor, working to help recruit and develop tomorrow's leaders.
• The Second Century Project provides the promise not only to sustain today's efforts, but to propel the Society into an exciting future in the 21st Century using the latest technology.

BACKGROUND
The National Society of Scabbard and Blade was founded in 1905 at the University of Wisconsin by five senior officers in the cadet corps. Its purposes are:

1. To raise the standard of military education in American high schools, colleges and universities
2. To unite academic military departments in closer relationship
3. To encourage and foster the essential qualities of good and efficient officers
4. To promote friendship and good fellowship among the cadet officers
5. To develop leadership qualities in the nation’s youth
6. To create a greater awareness of the opportunities of citizenship among the nation’s youth
7. To Disseminate knowledge of military education to students and the public
8. To Acquaint the public with our national defense needs

CONSIDERATIONS
To survive and prosper in its second century, Scabbard and Blade must assume new and enlarged missions. To accomplish these missions, the Society is fortunate in that it can take advantage of numerous existing resources:

1. A database of over 120,000 alumni, including many highly successful military and community leaders
2. A network of organized companies on college campuses
3. A rich tradition of education and service for over 100 years
4. A non-profit foundation to develop support for its programs
5. An established national office operated in accordance with sound management practices
6. A new interactive web site (www.scabbardandblade.org)
   • Members can post profile pages, submit news stories, upload pictures and videos, initiate and participate in discussion forums, etc.
   • Companies can have free, custom, hosted websites or link to their existing site
   • Alumni can post profiles, have custom-designed biographical web pages hosted on the web site, sponsor scholarships, submit news stories, etc.
   • Junior Members can post profile pages and submit news stories.
   • The public can view news and images to stay informed on happenings within and about the Society

GOALS
The Second Century Project is predicated on the following goals:

• University students are to be afforded the opportunity and encouragement to study military science while in the pursuit of a college education.
• Excellence in military service is to be encouraged and recognized.
• The need for sound, well-rounded education and training of military leaders is to be emphasized and encouraged as an essential ingredient of the “citizen soldier” concept.
• The ideal of the “citizen soldier” should be fostered as a positive role model for the nation’s youth, especially “at-risk” students in high schools.
• Increased public awareness of the needs, roles, and responsibilities of the nation’s armed services in the post-Cold War era is vital to a well-informed, democratic electorate.

THE STRATEGY
The objectives of the Second Century project are threefold:

Objective 1: Expand Scabbard and Blade services into Junior ROTC

Junior ROTC is a proven success for youth at risk, with 2,591 Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force programs for over 407,000 high school students nationwide. The military services assign and fund the instructors for these programs, but there is a growing need for additional support not available from the military services: an honor society for outstanding Junior ROTC cadets, special events, educational opportunities, and broadened horizons.

SABER’s work program for this objective entails the following components:

1. Develop a Scabbard and Blade “Five-Star” Program: a progressive character and leadership training program based on the five traits stressed by the Society's founders. An award will be presented to each student upon his/her completion of each of the five levels of the program.
2. Develop an annual Campus Career Weekend: a two-day program, sponsored by Senior Society companies and the National Headquarters, which will bring high school ROTC students to college campuses for educational activities and exposure to college life and career possibilities.
3. Organize drill meets: to support regional and national events in support of ROTC departments.
4. Establish a College Scholarship Fund: for deserving students
5. Support Essay Contests: provide U.S. Saving Bonds to winners
6. Publish They Served: a series of biographies of military heroes, written at the high school level, and emphasizing the five traits stressed by the Society's founders
7. Publish “Five-Star” Magazine: a quarterly/bimonthly publication, written for (and largely by) Junior cadets, covering national and local items of interest
8. Create a “Junior ROTC” component on the Society’s existing web site featuring news by and about Junior ROTC companies. [Since the draft of this plan, the site has been developed to meet this goal.]

Objective 2: Continue services to Scabbard and Blade members during and beyond college.

While there is a proliferation of professional associations within the Officers’ Corps, these are largely technical and narrow in focus. There is need for a joint association of officers from all services and across all disciplines. By allowing newly-commissioned officers to continue active membership after graduation, such an association would provide them with “post-graduate” training through opportunities to

1. Participate in leadership symposia,
2. Attend lectures by officers on active and reserve duty,
3. Tour advanced military schools,
4. Maintain professional contacts developed while in college, and
5. Stay abreast of developments in branches of the military other than their own. An expansion of membership options can also encourage participation through associate memberships, thereby increasing the networking scope to all commissioned officers in the military.

SABER’s work program for this objective entails the following components:

1. Continue on-going member services to active Scabbard and Blade companies on college and university campuses through the maintenance of a viable national office and creation of a network of volunteer Regional Representatives
2. Encourage creation of new Scabbard and Blade companies and provide technical assistance to colleges and universities with the creation of same.
3. Improve member services through:
   1. A National Founders’ Day retreat, observed by “dining outs” in active and reserve component units.
   2. Society Accouterments, including a member medallion to promote visibility.
   3. Publication of ROTC Review, a quarterly journal devoted to the Reserve Officers Training Corps.
4. Service to Senior & Junior ROTC companies through the recruitment of alumni who are willing to serve as mentors to high school and college students.

Objective 3. Strengthen public education on the needs of the nation’s military services and the importance of well-trained military leaders.

SABER’s work program for this objective entails the following components:

1. Assist OKROA and OK Historical Society in further development of Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame as a prototype for other states.
2. Establish a National Essay Contest with sponsored prizes, including U.S. Savings Bonds
3. Create a Speaker's Bureau of ROTC students and military officers
4. Disseminate information on the value of ROTC training on college and university campuses
5. Promote the establishment of new Senior ROTC detachments on college and university campuses and new Junior ROTC detachments in high schools

CHALLENGES
To accomplish its goals and carry out its objectives, SABER, Inc., needs help in the following areas:

1. Funding to sustain the National Headquarters through start-up period.
2. Conducting an alumni census and creation of an electronic data base of Society alumni
3. Recruitment of volunteer alumni to act as Regional Reps
4. Recruitment of additional supporters of SABER, Inc., through development of Advisory Boards and Alumni Contributors
5. Expansion of website server resources and hiring of a full-time webmaster and server administrator.

CONCLUSION

Support of SABER’s Second Century Project will further develop the National Society of Scabbard and Blade for the nation and its youth and provide it with a stable base of support for service into the Twenty-first Century. Please visit the Volunteers and Donors portions of this site to find out how you can help.