The school was originally established just after the end of WWI when the Oklahoma Legislature called for a state-sponsored school to help maintain a trained military force.
OMA quickly turned into a six-year program providing four years of high school as well as junior college courses and became known as “The West Point of the Southwest.” More than 2,500 graduates served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, before declining enrollment during the 1960s prompted the state legislature to close the school. Since 1971, Rogers State University has occupied the campus formerly known as OMA.