Bucknell Hall, erected in 1886, had an auditorium on the main floor and classrooms and offices for the Reserve Officers Training Corps on the ground floor. R.O.T.C. was established at Bucknell on April 1, 1951, and the first officer to complete this program was commissioned on August 1, 1952. From 1951 until 1960, all physically fit freshman males were required by a university regulation to enroll in four semesters of instruction in the R.O.T.C. The Class of 1964 was the last class covered by this regulation. Enrollment in R.O.T.C. was not mandatory for the Class of 1965, of which 269 had had chosen to enroll as freshmen in 1961. Students enrolled in R.O.T.C. classes received grades and academic credit, as in other academic courses at the university. After completion of the basic course, students could apply for admission to the advanced course, which began in the junior year. After successful completion of this course, the student would be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, either regular army or reserve.

In the 1963-1964 Academic Year, 658 males were enrolled in all four years of military science courses, and the "officer production" for the Bucknell R.O.T.C. in the fiscal year of 1964 was 129. This was the last graduating class for which participation in R.O.T.C.was compulsory. In the 1964-1965 Academic Year, total enrollment was 465 cadets and the "officer production" in the fiscal year of 1965 was 98. On June 20, 1964, 105 Bucknell cadets arrived at the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation for six weeks of Army training. In the 1965-1966 academic year, total enrollment in R.O.T.C. was 359, of whom 134 were freshman members of the Class of 1969. In 1969, the "officer production" for the fiscal year was 61. In the 1968-1969 Academic year, freshman enrollment was 103.

In 1965. the ROTC Instructor Group Detachment for Bucknell University consisted of thirteen officers and enlisted men, including the Professor Of Military Science, Colonel N.G. Bassitt. The Bucknell ROTC had a Trick Drill Team and a Cadet Band.