"To Train the Future Leaders of the United States Army."

Army ROTC in the Panther Battalion fosters a command climate that attracts Scholar-Athlete-Leaders and retains them through exciting, adventurous realistic activities and University level instruction, resulting in cadets completing the program and becoming commissioned officers in the United States Army.

The War Department established Army ROTC programs at the University of Pittsburgh in March 1918 and at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1919. An infantry unit was first established for instruction at the University of Pittsburgh until August 1921. In September 1919, a Coast Artillery unit was established along with a Motor Transport unit. The Motor Transport unit was discontinued in 1941 with the outbreak of WWII. In 1943, the Advanced Course was suspended, taken over by a 90-day Officer Candidate School, which produced needed active duty officers instead of reserve officers. The only unit reinstated after WWII was the Coast Artillery, which was converted to Anti-Aircraft Artillery during spring 1946. Additionally, a Corps of Engineers, Quartermaster and Medical units emerged to meet the Army's increased need for specialization.

In 1956, a general Military Science program of instruction was established, ending the specialized units. Presently, the Army ROTC curriculum is set up for general Military Science, offering commissions in all Army branches.

On 1 July 1975, the Department of the Army fused the ROTC programs at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to form the Pittsburgh Senior ROTC Instruction Group. Since 1922, these two programs have commissioned more than 5,000 officers.
Currently, Panther Battalion is comprised of more than 100 students from seven different universities in western Pennsylvania. California University of Pennsylvania and Duquesne University also once hosted their own programs, but have joined the University of Pittsburgh in recent years.  The current universities are the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, California University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, Robert Morris University, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Washington & Jefferson College, Carlow University, Chatham University. The program is open to students of any of the 12 colleges or universities in the greater Pittsburgh area.