Until November 1984, AFROTC at both ISU and RHIT had been under a cross town agreement with the University of Indiana (IU) in Bloomington.  In August 1985, ISU designated office space and funding to accompany their request for an independent detachment.  Additionally that year, ISU promoted its first AFROTC instructor to the rank of associate professor.  In November 1985, ISU again requested that the Air Force create a new independent AFROTC unit at ISU with RHIT as a cross town and after a thorough review, in May 1987 the Air Force notified ISU that it had agreed to stand up an independent AFROTC unit in Terre Haute beginning with the 1987-1988 academic year. Detachment 218 was born!

At first, Rose-Hulman served as the only cross town university in the program.  Over the years, students from several schools in the region have joined as active cadets and the current group of cross town schools includes Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, DePauw University, and Ivy Tech Community College.  Further, the cadre make up has also changed over the years including Active Duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and contractor personnel.  Currently Detachment 218 operations and training are under the purview of three Active Duty Air Force Officers, two Active Duty Air Force Non-Commissioned Officers, and one University Employee.  This team has worked out of multiple locations over the years and settled in the Myers Technology Center on ISU campus for over twenty years until moving to their newest offices in the Technology Annex on Cherry Street in downtown Terre Haute.  Visitors are always welcome to meet with the staff and cadre to learn more about the detachment history and opportunities available through Air Force ROTC.