| Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom | |
| Formation: | 1919 |
| Membership: | 19 University Military Education Committees |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | General Sir Peter Wall |
| Key People: | Mr. James Castle (Chairman) Mr. Jason Norris (Secretary) Prof. Patton Taylor (Treasurer) |
| Website: | https://www.comec.org.uk/ |
The Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom (COMEC) represents the interests of Military Education Committees in negotiations with Defence and the Armed Forces over policy development in officer training, the University Service Units and the Reserve Forces.[1] COMEC organizes an Annual Conference, publishes Occasional Papers and awards a Prize to the Officer Cadet who demonstrates outstanding achievement in leadership through military expertise, public service commitment and Service Unit activities.
The COMEC Conspectus[1] publicises to COMEC's strategic allies and others what COMEC does and for whom.
COMEC as such came into being in 1919, though its origins lie in the formation of the Officers Training Corps (OTC) in 1908.
Widespread myth surrounds the formation of the OTC, occasioned by a history of the Victorian Volunteers which suggested, in an appendix, that all university Volunteer units transferred to the OTC on 1 September 1908. In fact, only eight universities formed OTCs in that year, although others would soon follow.
Army Order 297 issued on 10 November, officially recognised the first OTC Contingents as Edinburgh with Infantry, Artillery and Medical Units, Birmingham, Cambridge, Durham, Manchester, Oxford and Wales with Infantry Units, and newly- formed Belfast. Edinburgh’s Medical Unit had attended annual camp in August wearing OTC insignia and this gives rise to their optimistic claim to have been the founding OTC Contingent.
The role of the OTC was primarily to prepare undergraduates for commissioned service and to maintain a supply of well-educated officers to the Territorial Force.No one could have foreseen how vital this was to become when, in the early months of WW1, OTCs bore the brunt of training the large number of additional officers urgently required for the New Army.
From 1908, it was a statutory requirement that a host university had a 'Military Education Committee' (MEC - the usual but not universal title) comprising a mix of university and service representatives to oversee the operation of the OTC with particular regard to the balance between cadets' military and academic activities. Most universities that had Volunteer Companies or Batteries, already had a 'Military Committee' for that very purpose and merely had to adopt the new title.
During World War I, several aspects of the mobilisation, notably the treatment of OTC officers and cadets who enlisted for active service, had caused widespread dissatisfaction within OTCs: officers were treated as substantive 2nd Lieutenants regardless of their Territorial Force rank and cadets arriving at an Officer Cadet Battalion were treated as fresh recruits even if they held Certificate B.
To address this, and other issues, a meeting was held in Durham on 22–23 September 1919, attended by twenty-eight representatives from fifteen MECs and a representative from the War Office. At this meeting, it was resolved to form a ‘Central Organization of Military Education Committees’. COMEC was born.
Its functions were to be:
In broad terms, COMEC continued to function as envisaged in 1919 although its role expanded as University Air Squadrons were formed at Cambridge and Oxford in 1925 and many other universities in 1941 and later. University Royal Navy Units also came into being, starting with Aberdeen in 1967.
A significant change came in 1970 when the name was changed to ‘Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom’ in an effort to underline the fact that it was an advisory and co-ordinating body, rather than having an executive role.
By the end of the century, COMEC’s ‘Terms of Reference’ had evolved to:
The role of COMEC continues in this vein to the present day.[1]
2017 on General Sir Peter Wall GCB CBE DL, former Chief of the General Staff
2011 - 2017 General Sir Mike Jackson GCB CBE DSO DL, former Chief of the General Staff
2006 - 2011 Sir Graeme Davies FRSE FREng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of London
1999 - 2006 Field Marshal The Lord Vincent of Coleshill GBE KCB DSO, former Chief of the Defence Staff
The University Service Units have their origins in the Army reforms of Richard Haldane, Secretary of State for War, from 1905 to 1908. In the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907, the Universities were invited to establish Officers’ Training Corps on the stipulation that they must have a Committee responsible for Military Education.[2]
| Military Education Committee | Member Universities | |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen MEC[3] | Aberdeen and Robert Gordon | |
| Bristol MEC | Bristol, Bath and West of England | |
| Cambridge MEC | Cambridge, East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin, Essex and Northampton | |
| East Midlands Combined MEC | Nottingham, De Montfort, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Loughborough, Nottingham Trent and Northampton | |
| City of Edinburgh Joint MEC | Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier and Queen Margaret | |
| Exeter MEC | Exeter, Plymouth, Falmouth and Plymouth Marjon | |
| Glasgow and Strathclyde MEC[4] | Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian and West of Scotland | |
| Leeds’ Military, Air Force and Naval Education Committee | Leeds, Leeds Beckett and Leeds Trinity | |
| Liverpool MEC | Liverpool, Lancaster, Liverpool John Moores and Central Lancashire | |
| London MEC[5] | King's College, University College, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Imperial, Brunel, City, South Bank and Kent | |
| Manchester and Salford MEC | Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford | |
| Northumbrian MEC | Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside | |
| Oxford Delegacy for Military Instruction | Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Reading, Royal Agricultural and Gloucestershire | |
| Queen's Belfast MEC | Queen's Belfast and Ulster | |
| Sheffield MEC | Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam | |
| Sussex MEC | Sussex and Brighton | |
| Tayforth MEC | St. Andrews, Dundee and Abertay | |
| MEC for Wales | Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales, Wrexham Glyndwr, Trinity Saint David and Chester | |
| West Midlands MEC | Birmingham, Aston and Warwick |
See main article: University Service Units.
See main article: University Royal Naval Units. MECs facilitated the establishment during the Second World War of the University Naval Division, which vanished with the end of war, not to be resurrected for another quarter of a century as the Royal Naval Unit in 1967.[6]
| University Royal Naval Unit | Ship | Universities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| URNU Birmingham[7] | HMS Exploit | Birmingham, Aston, Warwick, Birmingham City, Coventry, Wolverhampton | |
| URNU Bristol[8] | HMS Dasher | Bristol, Bath, West of England | |
| URNU Cambridge[9] | HMS Trumpeter | Cambridge, East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin, Essex | |
| URNU Devon[10] | - | Exeter, Plymouth, St Mark & St John | |
| URNU East Scotland[11] | HMS Archer | Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier, Queen Margaret, St Andrews, Dundee, Abertay, Aberdeen, Robert Gordon, Perth, Stirling | |
| URNU Glasgow[12] | HMS Pursuer | Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian, West of Scotland | |
| URNU Liverpool[13] | HMS Charger | Liverpool, Lancaster | |
| URNU London[14] | HMS Puncher | King's College, University College, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Imperial, Brunel, City | |
| URNU Manchester & Salford[15] | HMS Biter | Manchester, Salford, Manchester Metropolitan | |
| URNU Northumbrian[16] | HMS Example | Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland | |
| URNU Oxford[17] | HMS Smiter | Oxford, Reading, Oxford Brookes | |
| URNU Sussex[18] | HMS Ranger | Sussex, Brighton | |
| URNU Wales[19] | HMS Express | Cardiff, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales | |
| URNU Yorkshire[20] | HMS Explorer | Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Bradford, York, Leeds Beckett, Sheffield Hallam |
See main article: University Officers' Training Corps. UOTCs were inaugurated from 1908 onwards.[21]
| University Officers' Training Corps | Universities | |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen UOTC[22] | Aberdeen, Robert Gordon | |
| Birmingham UOTC[23] | Birmingham, Aston, Keele, Warwick, Birmingham City, Newman Birmingham, University College Birmingham, Coventry, Harper Adams, Staffordshire, Wolverhampton, Worcester | |
| Bristol UOTC[24] | Bristol, Bath, West of England, Bath Spa | |
| Cambridge UOTC[25] | Cambridge, Essex, Anglia Ruskin, Bedford, Hertfordshire | |
| East Midlands UOTC[26] | Nottingham, Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort, Derby, Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham Trent | |
| City of Edinburgh UOTC[27] | Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier, Queen Margaret | |
| Exeter UOTC[28] | Exeter, Plymouth, Plymouth Marjon, Falmouth | |
| Glasgow and Strathclyde UOTC[29] | Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian, West of Scotland | |
| Leeds UOTC[30] | Leeds, Bradford, Hull, York, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity, York St John | |
| Liverpool UOTC[31] | Liverpool, Lancaster, Central Lancashire, Chester, Cumbria, Edge Hill, Liverpool Hope, Liverpool John Moores | |
| London UOTC[32] | London, King's College, University College, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Brunel, City, Imperial, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Canterbury Christ Church, Hertfordshire, Kingston, London Metropolitan, Middlesex, South Bank, Westminster | |
| Manchester and Salford UOTC[33] | Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Manchester Metropolitan | |
| Northumbrian UOTC[34] | Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland, Teesside | |
| Oxford UOTC[35] | Oxford, Reading, Buckingham, Cranfield, Oxford Brookes, Royal Agricultural, Gloucestershire | |
| Queen's UOTC[36] | Queen's Belfast, Ulster | |
| Sheffield UOTC[37] | Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, Huddersfield | |
| Tayforth UOTC[38] | St. Andrews, Dundee, Stirling, Abertay | |
| Wales UOTC[39] | Wales, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales, Trinity St David |
See main article: University Air Squadrons. University Air Squadrons were created at Cambridge and Oxford in 1925 and at London in 1935, but all were closed down with the outbreak of war in 1939. MECs sponsored in 1941 the inauguration of the national scheme for establishing Air Squadrons in Universities.[40]
| University Air Squadron | Universities | |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham UAS | Birmingham, Aston, Birmingham City, Coventry, Keele, Staffordshire, Harper Adams, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Worcester | |
| Bristol UAS | Bristol, Bath, West of England, Exeter, Plymouth | |
| Cambridge UAS | Cambridge, East Anglia, Essex, Anglia Ruskin | |
| East Midlands UAS | Nottingham, Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort, Lincoln, Nottingham Trent | |
| East of Scotland UAS | Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Dundee, Heriot-Watt, Abertay, Edinburgh Napier, Queen Margaret, Robert Gordon | |
| Glasgow and Strathclyde UAS | Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian, West of Scotland, Stirling, Glasgow School of Art | |
| Liverpool UAS | Liverpool, Lancaster, Bangor, Edge Hill, Central Lancashire, Liverpool John Moores | |
| London UAS | London, Kings College, University College, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Imperial, Brunel, City, Kent, Hertfordshire | |
| Manchester and Salford UAS | Manchester, Salford, Manchester Metropolitan | |
| Northern Ireland UAS | Queen's Belfast, Ulster | |
| Northumbrian UAS | Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland, Teesside | |
| Oxford UAS | Oxford, Reading, Oxford Brookes | |
| Wales UAS | Wales, Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales, Trinity St. David | |
| Yorkshire UAS | Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Sheffield, York, Huddersfield, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity, Sheffield Hallam, York St. John |
See main article: Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme. The Defence Technical Officer Engineering Entry Scheme[41] [42] (DTOEES) provides education and support to students preparing for a career as an engineer or technical officer in the Armed Forces or MOD Civil Service. Students attend Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC) and, on completion of their A levels, go on to study for an engineering, technical, business or logistics degree at one of the DTUS partner universities.Defence has closed DTOEES, with the final cohort leaving the Defence Sixth Form College in 2021.
Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS) universities have separate partnership agreements with the Ministry of Defence to educate and support students from Welbeck attending selected degree courses in a range of subjects preparing for a career as a technical officer or engineer in the Armed Forces or Ministry of Defence. Students belong to a support Squadron which is responsible for their leadership development, mentorship, administration and monitoring their academic progress.Defence has closed the Scheme, with the final entry of Defence bursars in the DTUS Squadrons being in 2021.
| DTUS Squadron | Partner Universities | |
|---|---|---|
| Taurus | Birmingham, Aston, Oxford | |
| Trojan | Newcastle, Northumbria, Strathclyde | |
| Typhoon | Loughborough, Cambridge |
Source:[1]