CAPER History

The history of CAPERS is slowly being discovered.  When this started, all we had was a history that was passed down to the Pershing Angels.  The early part was written in the spring of 1970 by CAPER BG Iris Rodriguez.  After that small amounts of information were added from time to time, with large gaps in the information.  Slowly but surely, we're getting more facts to add to my memories from 1967 to 1971.  If you'd like more details of the history and the source materials, go to the Save CAPER History page.  We also need to add more information on other CAPER National Headquarters locations.  Please help us if you can.  As we learn more, we will be changing this history.  The last date this was changed was November, 2011.

This history doesn't give information on the number of companies at any point it time, as I'm still working on getting proof of when companies chartered.  I would love to get copies of any charters still in existence. In the mean time, you can see the progress of my work on the CAPER units page.

Linda Grissette

The Beginnings of Kaydettes at the University of Oklahoma

In the late 1950's and into the 1960's, Pershing Rifles companies across the country started coed groups.  I think it was because they wanted more girls around their ROTC buildings!

In the Fall of 1963, one of the Pershing Rifles members of Company H-7 at the University of Oklahoma was telling one of his high school friends about military drill.  She had enjoyed marching band and thought it would be fun to do military drill.  The two of them approached an honorary sponsor, Carolyn Prescott about the idea.  She liked it and the three of them judged the tryouts for the first Kaydettes drill team.

The Idea of Starting a National Organization of Coed Groups

By the fall of 1965, the Kaydettes members started thinking that there should be a national organization for the coed groups affiliated with Pershing Rifles.  The wrote a letter to Pershing Rifles National Headquarters asking for permission to explore the idea.  They were given permission.  They started contacting coed groups across the country while creating the structure of the organization.  On January 1, 1966 they officially became a national organization under the supervision of Pershing Rifles Seventh Regimental Headquarters.  At first the plan was to call the organization Kaydettes and the article for the 1966 Pershing Rifleman yearbook called them Kaydettes National Headquarters.  Some time along the way, they realized that Kaydettes wouldn't be a good name because the coed groups would have to change their local names.  According to a detailed history written in the 1967 Pershing Rifleman on January 1, 1966, they really became the National Headquarters for Coed Affiliates Pershing Rifles.  

NOTE:  The organization has also called Coed Affiliates of Pershing Rifles because for some reason the printer of our membership shingles printed the "of" on them.  The charters may have had it, too, but I haven't seen one since 1971!  In the history written in 1967, the nick name was "CAPER" not "CAPERS".  But I always remember hearing and saying "CAPERS".

The first Pershing Rifles National Convention attended by the new National Staff attended was the Spring Little National Convention (a non-drill meet year) in Colorado Springs, CO.  At that convention they were again recognized as the National Headquarters of CAPERS.

I was always told that the Fall Little National Convention in Lincoln, NE of 1966 was the vote that made CAPERS "official".  The history written that year quoted then PR MG James Belmont as saying "When CAPER was organized, it was understood that it was an independent organization which would govern itself with advice from Pershing Rifles."  I have to assume that this was during the discussion before the vote.  The Fall Little National Conventions were held Thanksgiving week-end with the Legislative Session on Friday.  According to an on-line perpetual calendar, that vote would have been on Saturday, November 26, 1966.  I've also been told they attended the Oklahoma-Nebraska football game that evening!

By the time I pledged in September, 1967 CAPER National was no longer working with Pershing Rifles Seventh Regimental Headquarters but Pershing Rifles National Headquarters.

NOTE: We have group pictures of Kaydettes for the first 3 years, as well as pictures of all the CAPER National Commanders at the University of Oklahoma.  We also have group pictures of CAPERS at the University of Oklahoma.

The 1966-1967 School Year

The first National Commander was COL Gloria Robinson according to the history in the 1967 Pershing Rifleman.  I'm not sure what time frame she held the position of Kaydettes/CAPER National Commander.  CAPER COL Tanya (McDonald) Miller has always been called the first CAPER National Commander in 1967.  She presided over the first CAPER National Convention in Washington, DC in the spring of 1967 in conjunctions with the Pershing Rifles National Convention and Drill Meet.  Six CAPER Companies were present, as well as observers considering chartering with CAPERS.  By the end of the school year 7 CAPER Companies had chartered.  (note: these unit counts included "Headquarters Company H-7 at the University of Oklahoma, but a charter was never issued.)

At the end of the school year, CAPER COL Gail (Todd) Kish took over command of the organization.

The 1967-1968 School Year

When school started in 1967, there were 5 returning members of CAPER National Staff along with a large pledge class.  Four CAPERS attended the Fall Pershing Rifles Little National Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska over the Thanksgiving week-end.

At the end of first semester, CAPER COL Kathryn (Kay) Sykes took over command.

The Pershing Rifles Spring National Convention was scheduled to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, but due to unrest in the area, the convention was moved to Lincoln, Nebraska.  When Pershing Rifles National Headquarters received the registration materials they called to see why CAPER National had not registered.   It was because the registration materials we're sent to CAPER National Headquarters or any of the CAPER companies.  Because of that, no CAPER National Convention was held in 1968.

The 1968-1969 School Year

When school started in 1968, there were 3 returning members of CAPER National Staff as well as a good pledge class.  Four CAPERS again attended the Fall Pershing Rifles Little National Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska.

At the end of first semester, CAPER COL Nina Rose Jacoby took over command.  In early March, CAPER National Headquarters was inspected by Pershing Rifles National Headquarters for the first time.  At the end of the inspection the CAPER National Staff was told that only one section, G-1, was functioning properly (That was me!!)  Shortly after the inspection, CAPER COL Gwen Coley took over the position of National Commander.

The 1969 CAPER Convention was held in conjunction with Pershing Rifles Spring National Convention and Drill Meet in Cleveland, Ohio.  There were 7 CAPER Companies in attendance, including one that was the newest company at the time.  There was also a company that was in the processes of chartering that attended and participated in the discussions.  You can even see pictures of the companies that attended.  CAPER Company A-5 won first place in the Coed Competition at the National Drill Meet.

The 1969-1970 School Year

When school started in 1969, 3 CAPER National Staff members returned and, again, there was a good pledge class.  The headquarters office had been moved over the summer and everything was a mess.  Command problems caused the headquarters work to nearly stop, resulting in COL Coley's forced resignation on October 10, 1969.  The CAPER Advisor from the ROTC Department named CAPER COL Iris Rodriguez to be the new commander.  This was a challenging period for CAPERS but the hard work of COL Rodriguez and her Chief of Staff, LTC Linda Grissette, (that's me), got the headquarters going again and functioning properly.  Until the pledges could be trained, COL Rodriguez also worked as Finance Officer, G-2 PIO, G-3 and Pledge Trainer.  LTC Grissette also worked at G-1, G-2 Expansion, and G-4.  The work backlog was cleared up and the pledges were trained. 

During the Fall Semester, CAPER National Headquarters received a letter from P/R COL Robert Shelton, the Pershing Rifles Fourth Regimental Commander from Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.  COL Shelton was appointing a CAPER Coordinator, Pam Craft for his regiment who would be attached to their headquarters.  Pam was quickly named to CAPER National Staff.  They were sent copies of all expansion materials and given permission to copy them at any time.  A letter was sent to the other regiments suggesting they do the same thing.  Putting some of the expansion responsibilities at the Pershing Rifles Regimental level gave greater opportunities for personal contact for expansion.

The Pershing Rifles Fall 1969 Little National Convention was attended by COL Rodriguez, LTC Grissette and 2 of the pledges (Paulette Kikugawa and Caroll Webster).  At that convention, COL Rodriguez talked with Pershing Rifles National Staff about dividing CAPERS into Regiments so that the work load could be lessened for National Staff.  The organization had grown entirely too much to be run by a small staff.

At the Fall Little National Convention, the Pershing Rifles 17th Regimental Commander (17th Regiment covered Texas and New Mexico at that time) invited representatives from CAPER National Staff to attend their Fall Regimental Drill Meet in Wichita Falls, Texas a week or two later.  One company in their regiment had recently chartered and two others of them were in the process.  To see pictures of the meeting of CAPER National Staff and all 3 companies, go to this link and go down past the 1969 convention pictures.

The first weekend of March, Pershing Rifles National Staff again inspected CAPER National Headquarters.  When the Pershing Rifles National Staff arrived, P/R BG James Condon, Deputy Commander, went in for a meeting with the Professor of Military Science.  A few minutes later, the rest of the PR National Inspection Team and all of the CAPER National Staff that were there were called into the PMS's office.  BG Condon then read an order signed by the P/R MG Dennis Lambert, their National Commander, promoting COL Rodriguez to BG to better work with the new regiments.  LTC Grissette was promoted to COL and named the first CAPER Deputy Commander.  New CAPER LTC Paulette Kikugawa became the Chief of Staff.  For a silly look at that day, check out this picture.

The 1970 CAPER National Convention was held in conjunction with the Pershing Rifles Spring Little National Convention (no drill meet) in San Antonio, Texas.  Again, four members of CAPER National Staff attended.  While BG Rodriguez ran the CAPER Convention, COL Grissette attended the PR Convention as an observer.  CAPER Awards were presented for the first time at any National Convention Banquet.  COL Grissette had encouraged the companies to nominate members for awards and made all the award arrangements, but was totally surprised when BG Rodriguez gave an award (my memory says it was the Red Rose Award) to LTC Kikugawa.  She was even more surprised when BG Rodriguez gave her both the Yellow Rose Award and Distinguished Service Award.  

Soon after the convention, BG Rodriguez announced that the next commander would not just be appointed.  To make sure as many members as possible returned, she asked each of the active members to name who they wanted to be National Commander.  At the pledge initiation dinner, BG Rodriguez gave the first ever CAPER National Commander's Award to COL Grissette.  Shortly after that, she named the new National Commander, CAPER BG Linda Grissette and the new Deputy Commander, CAPER COL Paulette Kikugawa.  Later, the new Chief of Staff was named, CAPER LTC Gwen Howell.

The 1970-1971 School Year

When school started in 1970, all three of the new command staff returned, but the headquarters office had been moved again.  This year the first thing the staff did was paint the room and get it set up better than ever.  

Once the office was in shape, BG Grissette got started with the task of figuring out where the regimental boundaries should be and what companies would get the CAPER Regimental Headquarters.  To learn how it was done, see the page about our Regiments.  The next step was to completely rewrite and reorganize the CAPER SOP.

The 1971 CAPER National Convention was held in conjunction with the Pershing Rifles Spring National Convention and Drill Meet in Atlanta, Georgia.  Four CAPER National Staff members flew to Atlanta because of the distance.  The convention was set up with caucuses (like was done at the PR Conventions), which brought forward motions to the floor of the convention the next day.  Each of the 4 caucuses were chaired by the CAPER Regimental Commanders with National Staff observing.  This was the first time this procedure was used at a CAPER Convention.  Another new procedure, also taken from Pershing Rifles, was a commanders call after the actual convention electing the new National Commander.  But unlike the PR convention that went on all day (while the drill meet was going on), the CAPER Convention was adjourned before noon, so that all CAPERS could compete in or watch the coed division of the drill meet.  That night at the Banquet, BG Grissette gave COL Kikugawa the National Commander's Award and then named the newly elected CAPER National Commander, CAPER BG Paulette (Kikugawa) Lum.

The 1971-1972 School Year

When school started in 1971, there were very few CAPERS remaining.  BG Kikugawa and her Deputy Commander, CAPER COL Gwen Howell worked hard, but eventually the decision was made that the CAPER National Headquarters would be moved due to lack of staff.  BG Kikugawa could not bear to be the one to do that, so she turned the command over to CAPER BG Gwen (Howell) Kelly who then arranged for moving the headquarters to Kansas State University.  They don't remember the actual date of transfer, but it was in 1972.  The history received from Pershing Angels gave the date as February 5, 1972.

From here on we don't have much details of our history and would love to add more as other alumni start recording their memories, too. 

CAPER National Headquarters at Kansas State University

Spring 1972

The national staff at Kansas State University was staffed by all of the CAPERS there, with 17 staff members.  There are two pictures on their page that have 17 CAPERS on a drill team and I think that was their first national staff.  The first national commander was CAPER BG Susan Linholm.

1972-73 School Year

In April 1972, CAPER BG Rhonda (McGuire) McCommons was elected National Commander for the 1972-73 school year.  At the Spring National Convention, there was a CAPER National Drill Meet for the first time with CAPER trophies.

1973-74 School Year

In April 1973, CAPER BG Elizabeth Cramer was elected National Commander for the 1973-74 school year.

1975-75 School Year

We don't know the name of the National Commander, but in talking to the Pershing Rifles National Commander for that year, we know that the National Headquarters was still at Kansas State University, because he married the CAPER Deputy Commander.

CAPER National Headquarters at Auburn University

There are no records of this period of CAPER history.  We have found two CAPER alumni for Auburn University, but they have no knowledge of the National Headquarters having been at Auburn University.  We still hope to get information on this headquarters.  The history from Pershing Angels said that this headquarters ended in 1978.

CAPER National Headquarters at Appalachian State University.

The headquarters was moved there in 1978 and the National Commander there for 1978-79 was CAPER BG Susan B. Rice.

CAPER National Headquarters at Seton Hall University

The headquarters was moved to Seton Hall University in 1979, even thought the history from Pershing Angels said 1981

1979-80 School Year

When I first started hunting for CAPER alumni, the Pershing Rifles Alumni Association from Seton Hall sent me the e-mail addresses for several CAPER alumni.  Later I learned that one of them was the National Commander for the 1979-80 school year, CAPER BG Cheryl Beers-Cullan.  Cheryl had no knowledge of the order sent out by Pershing Rifles National Headquarters (see below on the official end of CAPERS).

1980-81 School Year  

The National Commander for the 1980-81 School Year was CAPER BG Sharon Sanders.

1981-82 School Year

The National Commander for the 1981-82 School Year was CAPER BG Shirley Jones. 

The official end of Coed Affiliates Pershing Rifles

We have been told that because of declining membership, the Pershing Rifles Constitution was changed in 1980 dropping the requirement for members to be ROTC Cadets, thus allowing for civilian members.  The same year an order was written telling all Pershing Rifles companies to take their CAPERS into their Pershing Rifles company.

The order was not followed universally and, from what we have heard, CAPER National Headquarters didn't hear about it until the end of 1982.  We hope to eventually to find some alumni who can give us even more details.

No matter when it happened, the order effectively merged the two organizations, making all CAPER Alumni Pershing Rifles Alumni. 

But this was really not the end!

CAPERS have a wonderful legacy.  The legacy is all of the civilian and female members of Pershing Rifles today.  

But there is another legacy of CAPERS.  Although some of the CAPER Companies may have merged into their Pershing Rifles Companies during the early 1980's, some of them did not.  They changed their name to Pershing Angels, which was the local name of several CAPER Companies.  

Pershing Angels National Headquarters at St. Peters College

According to the history I received from Pershing Angels, the next National Headquarters.  But I didn't know what their status was. When Irene (Rodriguez) Lee found this website on May 1, 2010, we learned that the national organization was know as Pershing Angels, but that locally the company at St. Peters College was still called CAPERS.  It seems that the headquarters stayed at Seton Hall in some from until 1985 when they were being merged into their Pershing Rifles company and brought one box of National Headquarters stuff to St. Peters College and said they'd bring more later, but never did.  Obviously, the history that had been handed down over the years was in that box!

1985

The National Commander for 1985 was Pershing Angels BG Fran (Lopes) Steffens.

1986

The National Commander for 1986 was Pershing Angels BG Irene (Rodriguez) Lee.

1987

The National Commander for 1987 was Pershing Angels BG Madeline Colon.  

For a period of two or three years there was no national organization and the remaining companies existed independently.

The current Pershing Angels Organization  

On November 3, 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia, the National Society of Pershing Angels held a conference at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center.  The National Headquarters was reorganized with Pershing Angels BG Lisa Cannon becoming National Commander with the headquarters in Atlanta. Lisa was National Commander until 1992.  

Note:  Pershing Angels no longer has actives running the National Staff, as history proves that it is too hard for actives to keep their local organization going while still running the organization.  The National Staff is now all alumni members.

In 1992 the National Headquarters was moved to Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.  Pershing Angels BG Tiji Murphy-Hipp was the National Commander form 1992 to 1996.

In 1997 the National Headquarters was moved to Howard University in Washington, DC.  Pershing Angels BR Adrian Pugh was the National Commander from 1997 to 1998.  Note: It was Adrian who gave me the Pershing Angels history in 1999.  Pershing Angles BG Latonja Estelle was National Commander from 1998 to 2000.

In 2000, the National Headquarters was moved to Norfolk State University.  Pershing Angels BG Michelle Richardson was the National Commander from 2000 to 2002.

In 2002, the National Headquarters was moved back to Morgan State University.  Pershing Angel BG Wanda Green (who pledged CAPERS in 1977) became the National Commander and retired in 2010.  I haven't gotten the name of the new Pershing Angels National Commander yet or the location of the headquarters.

Every alumni of CAPERS and Pershing Angels will be proud to know that 7 CAPER Companies still exist as Pershing Angels Companies.  Those include Florida State University, Morgan State University, Tuskegee University, North Caroline A & T University, Norfolk State University, Hampton University, and South Carolina State University.  I've heard that a few of these died out and had to be restarted, while some have continued over the years.  There are also Pershing Angel Companies at Howard University, Virginia State University, and Lincoln University.  

Every CAPER alumni should also be proud of all the civilian and female members of Pershing Rifles over the years.

Yes, Coed Affiliates Pershing Rifles has an amazing legecy, and we should all work to make sure that we are remembered.

If you are interested in learning more details (and emotions) about CAPER history, go to our page about Saving Our CAPER history.  We are hoping that more and more people will contribute to that page.  If that produces any changes in our knowledge of CAPER history, this page will be changed.

Return to the main page.

The creator of this website, Linda Grissette (the 1970-71 CAPER National Commander) is not asking for any money to help support this project.  Her reward will be finding people she remembers and learning about other former members memories.  If you appreciate the effort, please use her for all of real estate needs.  If you aren't in the St. Louis area where she works, she can find a great agent in your area and will receive a small referral fee.  Contact Linda about real estate.  See Linda's main real estate website.