There was no O-Course next to (or even remotely near) the Armory until 1980, which was a mere 34 years after NROTC first came to exist at Oregon State.  And if not for Midn. Jim McIntosh and a handful of classmates, no O-Course is likely to have been built in 1980.

Jim adamantly insists that he was only one among that handful who did what needed to be done to round up, adapt, and combine the materials to create a USMC obstacle course just a few steps east of the Quonset huts.  OK, we concede; no "them," no O-Course.   

Well before 2009, the O-Course had become a beaten-up relic on the far side of its "sell by" date.  A hopeful plan emerged (from the staff) but insufficient funds were raised.  Fate then came into play.  The final $12,000 was contributed by Lt Col Nelson Olf (ret) USMC.       

Nelson Olf (1957) has funded scholarships for OSU Engineering and NROTC as well as getting the 2009 O-Course rebuild across the finish line.  His unwavering love for the Marine Corps, NROTC, and Oregon State mark him high among our most exceptional alums. 

When Jim McIntosh and his Beaver-Battalion mates raised money, hustled up wood and steel, chopped it and cut it and shaped it, then pieced it into that 1980 O-Course, no way did they envision a bright and shining glory like what they saw dedicated in 2016.

A Marine obstacle course is famous (uhh, notorious) for giving those who test its gauntlet of obstacles a chance to discover "who and what they are."  The early gifts of the O-Course were failure and chagrin that we then strove to master and defeat by dedicated effort.

Most Midshipmen have a story (or stories) on coping with the rigors of the O-Course.  No two of them are exactly the same because no two of us are exactly the same.  Bottom line: we want YOUR story to create an archive of O-Course tales.  Send YOUR story to Stan Smith.