Subsequent military rugby history

For years after the formation of the Combined Services Committee, there was an effort by each of the Service teams to have rugby officially recognized by the Armed Forces Sports Council as an official sport. In 1998, the Council voted not to adopt Rugby as an official sport after USMC and USAF pushed to have the sport added. However, the Council received a letter from General Schoomaker on 22 Feb 1999 solicited support and provided a very comprehensive information paper. On 11 March 1999, the Council voted 4-0 to add rugby to the Armed Forces Sports calendar. The term Armed Forces Rugby that was used by the Combined Services Committee was adopted by the DoD sports office.

In the following months, members of the Combined Services Committee and the Armed Forces Sports Service Reps hammered out the details on how the competition would be run (roster size, rules, etc...). Ultimately, it was agreed that Armed Forces Sports would manage the program in compliance with all DoD regulations with Council approval on 7 Sep 2000, after communications with Col Paul Capasso and Mike Malone (Malone being the voting member of USARFU). USA Rugby then recognized Armed Forces Sports as the program lead from the Combined Services Committee and the Armed Forces Rugby Championship would serve as the feeder into the Combined Services Committee Team that would compete at the National Tournament. Eventually, the dynamics of the national tournament went away and the Combined Services Committee went away. USA Rugby became an official National Governing Body of the US Olympic Committee, which further changed the landscape of Armed Forces Rugby. Today, Armed Forces Rugby is officially recognized by USA Rugby as the U.S. Armed Forces Rugby Football Club for both our men's and women's teams. Our Armed Forces Rugby Championship is officially sanctioned by USA Rugby.

The first official Armed Forces Championship under the DoD leadership was in 2000.