Valley Forge Military Academy was founded in 1928 by Lieutenant General Milton G. Baker, and was first located in Devon, Pennsylvania, several miles away from the campus' current location. After a 1929 fire devastated the original single-building campus, the Academy was moved to its present site in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Today, the campus occupies 100 acres of rolling countryside, and is located just 15 miles west of Philadelphia.
Originally, General Baker devised an American Revolutionary War motif for the school. The school colors are Buff and Blue, the colors of the uniforms of the Continental Army. The uniforms, crest, and Alma Mater were patterned from those of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Over time, General Baker modeled many of the school's drills, customs, and ceremonies after those of Sandhurst, Great Britain's West Point. The full dress uniforms were modeled on those of the British Army, while others were West Point and British hybrids. The Academy maintains its loyalty to these traditions today.
During the 1935-36 school year, General Baker expanded the Academy to include a two-year college program. This was the beginning of Valley Forge Military College.
While General Baker retired as Superintendant in 1971, subsequent Superintendents and Presidents (as they have been known since 1992) have maintained the institution's traditional emphasis on character-based education, as expressed in the Five Cornerstones.
While tradition is important to Valley Forge, progress has also been a hallmark, including the admission of women to Valley Forge Military College in 2006.