The Council of Military Education Committees of the Universities of the United Kingdom (COMEC) represents the interests of military education committees in negotiations with the Ministry of Defence and the armed morces over policy development in officer training, the University Service Units and the Reserve Forces. 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 publicises to COMEC's strategic allies and others what COMEC does and for whom.

History

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: To assist in the co-ordination of the work of the Universities and University Colleges in the study of National Defence. To secure for Military Science its due place among University studies and to promote the systematic instruction and training of candidates for commissions and, so far as may be desired by the Army Council and other authorities concerned, of Officers in the National Forces. For these purposes the Central Organization shall assist in the co-operation of the Universities and University Colleges with the Departments of State which administer the National Forces.

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: To co-ordinate and represent the views of MECs to the Ministry of Defence through the directorates for university service units of the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force. To consider and deliberate upon matters of policy emanating from the directors of university service units and to advise the MOD DRFC and universities thereon. To assist in the co-ordination of the work of universities through their MECs and in particular to facilitate systematic instruction and training of candidates for commissions in the armed services as may be required by the MOD and to promote for these purposes the co-operation of the universities with the Ministry of Defence. To maintain liaison with the appropriate bodies concerned with Defence Studies and other relevant issues.

The role of COMEC continues in this vein to the present day.

Members

President 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

Military education committees (MECs)

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 1907, the universities were invited to establish Officers' Training Corps on the stipulation that they must have a committee responsible for military education. Military education committee Member universitiesAberdeen MECAberdeen and Robert GordonBristol MECBristol, Bath and West of EnglandCambridge MECCambridge, East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin, Essex and NorthamptonEast Midlands Combined MECNottingham, De Montfort, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Loughborough, Nottingham Trent and NorthamptonCity of Edinburgh Joint MECEdinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier and Queen MargaretExeter MECExeter, Plymouth, Falmouth and Plymouth Marjon Glasgow and Strathclyde MECGlasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian and West of ScotlandLeeds’ Military, Air Force and Naval Education CommitteeLeeds, Leeds Beckett and Leeds TrinityLiverpool MECLiverpool, Lancaster, Liverpool John Moores and Central LancashireLondon MECKing's College, University College, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Imperial, Brunel, City, South Bank and KentManchester and Salford MECManchester, Manchester Metropolitan and SalfordNorthumbrian MECDurham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and TeessideOxford Delegacy for Military InstructionOxford, Oxford Brookes, Reading, Royal Agricultural and GloucestershireQueen's Belfast MECQueen's Belfast and UlsterSheffield MECSheffield and Sheffield HallamSussex MECSussex and BrightonTayforth MECSt. Andrews, Dundee and AbertayMEC for WalesCardiff, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales, Wrexham Glyndwr, Trinity Saint David and ChesterWest Midlands MECBirmingham, Aston and Warwick

University Service Units (USUs)

University Royal Naval Units (URNUs)

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. University Royal Naval UnitShipUniversitiesURNU BirminghamHMS ExploitBirmingham, Aston, Warwick, Birmingham City, Coventry, WolverhamptonURNU BristolHMS DasherBristol, Bath, West of EnglandURNU CambridgeHMS TrumpeterCambridge, East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin, EssexURNU Devon-Exeter, Plymouth, St Mark & St JohnURNU East ScotlandHMS ArcherEdinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier, Queen Margaret, St Andrews, Dundee, Abertay, Aberdeen, Robert Gordon, Perth, StirlingURNU GlasgowHMS PursuerGlasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian, West of ScotlandURNU LiverpoolHMS ChargerLiverpool, LancasterURNU LondonHMS PuncherKing's College, University College, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Imperial, Brunel, CityURNU Manchester & SalfordHMS BiterManchester, Salford, Manchester MetropolitanURNU NorthumbrianHMS ExampleNewcastle, Durham, Northumbria, SunderlandURNU OxfordHMS SmiterOxford, Reading, Oxford BrookesURNU SussexHMS RangerSussex, BrightonURNU WalesHMS ExpressCardiff, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South WalesURNU YorkshireHMS ExplorerLeeds, Sheffield, Hull, Bradford, York, Leeds Beckett, Sheffield Hallam

University Officers' Training Corps (UOTCs)

UOTCs were inaugurated from 1908 onwards. University Officers' Training CorpsUniversitiesAberdeen UOTCAberdeen, Robert GordonBirmingham UOTCBirmingham, Aston, Keele, Warwick, Birmingham City, Newman Birmingham, University College Birmingham, Coventry, Harper Adams, Staffordshire, Wolverhampton, WorcesterBristol UOTCBristol, Bath, West of England, Bath SpaCambridge UOTCCambridge, Essex, Anglia Ruskin, Bedford, HertfordshireEast Midlands UOTCNottingham, Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort, Derby, Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham TrentCity of Edinburgh UOTCEdinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh Napier, Queen MargaretExeter UOTCExeter, Plymouth, Plymouth Marjon, FalmouthGlasgow and Strathclyde UOTCGlasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian, West of ScotlandLeeds UOTCLeeds, Bradford, Hull, York, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity, York St JohnLiverpool UOTCLiverpool, Lancaster, Central Lancashire, Chester, Cumbria, Edge Hill, Liverpool Hope, Liverpool John MooresLondon UOTCLondon, 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, WestminsterManchester and Salford UOTCManchester, Salford, Bolton, Manchester MetropolitanNorthumbrian UOTCDurham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland, TeessideOxford UOTCOxford, Reading, Buckingham, Cranfield, Oxford Brookes, Royal Agricultural, GloucestershireQueen's UOTCQueen's Belfast, UlsterSheffield UOTCSheffield, Sheffield Hallam, HuddersfieldTayforth UOTCSt. Andrews, Dundee, Stirling, AbertayWales UOTCWales, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, South Wales, Trinity St David

University Air Squadrons (UASs)

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.