Note: It is not necessary to establish a Scabbard and Blade Company/Chapter on your campus in order to become a member. A member of the R.O.T.C. or J.R.O.T.C. cadre at your school may nominate you by verifying that you meet the requirements necessary for membership. Maintaining a company will provide leadership experience and life-long friends, but will also require a good deal of effort.

If you desire to establish a company of this Society on your campus, first check the active company listing page to verify that one does not already exist near you. If no active company is close enough to allow your participation in it, download the petition to charter a new company and follow the instructions on the form in addition to those below.

Procedures:

The following process describes how to start a new Scabbard and Blade company at your school, and applies to both Senior (college or university) and Junior (high school) Scabbard and Blade. If you have questions regarding any of the steps, please contact the National Executive Director at 405-377-4279.

1. Understand what Scabbard and Blade represents. Become familiar with the concepts, ideals, and requirements of the Society as well as its goals to a degree that you can present the idea of starting a new company to your cadre.                       

2. Find a company adviser. Your company advisor should be an interested cadre member of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps or Navy unit at your school. If you are able to identify S&B alumni at or near your school, they would ideally serve as the alumni adviser. If not, try to find an officer or NCO who will be supportive of your company. Keep in mind your company will be cadet run, and only advised by cadre members, and hopefully by various Society alumni.

3. Identify potential company members. Work with the cadre to select other cadets/midshipmen to go through the pledge process and establish the company. The recommended number to start a company is 10 – though this is not an absolute number. Membership is limited to the top 20% of cadets or midshipmen in any R.O.T.C. program (see Becoming a Member for exact qualifications).

4. Get all R.O.T.C. departments on campus involved. Contact other cadets or midshipmen in your sister services to seek support for establishing a new company on your campus. Scabbard and Blade is a "joint" U.S. military honor society.

5. Identify your prospective members to the national office. Email the national executive director or mail in the Report of Intent to Initiate. This is vital, and notifies National HQ that you are ready to go and are moving along with the process. Once received, National HQ will send you hard copies of the Pledge Manual if you request them (they may also be downloaded from this site), as well as the test that should be administered at the end of the pledge period.

6. Start the four week (recommended) pledge process. During this time, you must meet as a class at least once a week (as schedules permit). To build teamwork among the new group, it is suggested that you do coordinate social events, group PT, professional development, etc.; and, your efforts must be closely reviewed by an Active member of S&B and/or your R.O.T.C. cadre.

7. Develop company bylaws. If you have someone well versed in parliamentary procedure, it would be appropriate for them to handle this step. If not, sample bylaws provided from Georgia Tech University or a generic set, can be utilized for your reference.

8. Administer the pledge test. All pledges should achieve a score of 75% or better to pass. (Retakes are allowed, as deemed appropriate).

9. Register the new members. The last session should be devoted to helping the approved new members either complete the paper nomination form or register on this web site. Only those individuals listed on your Report of Intent to Initiate will be processed for membership. There is a one-time initiation fee per member to be paid.

10. Order uniform and clothing items. The member lapel pin and a car sticker, along with the member certificate, are provided in the membership packet. The S&B member ribbon, citation cord, and other uniform items may be purchased separately on this Web site’s shopping cart. Ideally, you should designate one registered member to order uniform items for all members to be sent with the new member packets, which will save shipping charges for each member.

11. Conduct the initiation ceremony. With the new member packets, you will receive the confidential Rituals publication to aid in conducting the initiation ceremony, at which time the secrets of the Five Stars are revealed to the new members. A national officer or an Active member or alumnus, should supervise the initiation for a new or reactivated company.

12. Complete the process. Submit your application following steps in the form provided by the National Office. Your application will be reviewed by the national officers who will either submit it for vote by the active Society companies, or request additional information. Upon approval, a printed Charter will be sent to you, and you should contact the national office to list your company profile on the national web site. Note that your new company must exist and function satisfactorily for at least eight weeks before a charter will be issued and new member applications approved through your company. If your new company is not chartered for some reason, all members will still be initiated through the National Headquarters Company.

Forms and Files:

All of the files you need to start and run your Scabbard and Blade company are available on this web site:

• The Constitution 2007 offers a lengthy glimpse into how the society operates – it is currently being revised.

• The current (2007) Company Manual describes how company level operations should occur and describes the particulars of the role each company officer should perform.

• The Pledge Manual introduces new members to the fundamentals of the Society.

• The Sample Bylaws serve as a guideline. Also listed are the GT S&B Bylaws written for M Company, 2nd Regiment at Georgia Tech (which were then ratified by the company). One of the requirements for charting is to have a set of bylaws established.

*Note - Pledge tests and hard copies of the pledge manuals will be mailed to your company once you have completed a report of intent to initiate and submitted your report to the National Office.

Contact Information:

If you have questions regarding any of the steps of forming a new Scabbard and Blade company, please contact the National Executive Officer, phone 405-377-4279.