Main Page/Intro

US Military teams have existed on and off since the 1919 Allied games held after WWI. Servicemen have played in the 1920 Olympics and with a variety of teams until the last 1960's when base level teams began to organize. They were fueled by the service academies who have a long history, but it was not until the formal organization of USA Rugby in 1974 that there began a concerted effort to support military teams. From that initiative in the late 1970's, we saw the formation of the first Combined Services team, and later, service teams and intraservice championships. The US Combined Services Committee was formed and guided the growth and spearheaded the objective of making rugby an official DoD sport. When that happened in 2000, the CS committee was superseded by the Armed Forces Sports Council and in a few years was formally dissolved by the reorganization of what is now USA Rugby during the early 2000's. The Armed Forces Sports Council voted to switch to 7's format from 15's, effective for the 2012 championship. The addition of 7's to the Olympics provided the justification, as well as easier funding of 7 vs 15 teams. The five Service rugby directors, who previously comprised the permanent CS committee members, continue to lead collaboration on behalf of their respective players under the authority of their respective Service sports offices for all formal military rugby events.

The official Armed Forces Rugby website is: http://armedforcessports.defense.gov/Sports/Rugby.aspx

The competition is always fierce, yet the sense of brotherhood seen within the rugby culture has always been stronger among our the military teams.

If you see any gaps in this site please forward your concerns to the appropriate link below:

Combined Services

Army - Mike Legg at [mike.legg@mail.house.gov]

Air Force

Navy

Marine Corps

Coast Guard

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