EWU ROTC “Fighting Eagles” Battalion Commissions 12 Second Lieutenants Into the U.S. Army

On June 14, 2019 the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion conducted its annual commissioning ceremony. The ceremony was held in the historic Showalter Hall auditorium on the beautiful EWU campus.

EWU Army ROTC Class of 2019

The ceremony to commission the 12 Cadets as Second Lieutenants (2LT) was fitting held on the 244th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army. This was the 64th straight year that Eastern has produced officers for the U.S. Army. The EWU ROTC program was established in 1952 and the first commissioning class was in 1955. A special guest today was Mr. Dick Edwards who was member of that first EWU ROTC Class of 1955. It was an honor to have him on hand to see the Class of 2019 commission. It was also an honor to have retired Brigadier General Neal Sealock as our guest speaker. BG Sealock is a 1974 graduate from the EWU Army ROTC program and is currently serving as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for the Eastern Washington region.

Retired Brigadier General Neal Sealock was the guest speaker for the 2019 commissioning ceremony.

EWU ROTC also thanks retired Lieutenant Colonel Dave Millet from the EWU Veterans Resource Center for presenting the veterans coins and honor cords to the commissionees today. We also thank retired Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Mellick from the EWU ROTC class of 1967 for representing the program’s alumni and presenting Eagle4Life pins to each of the new lieutenants.

Jerry Mellick (left) and Dave Millet (right) present coins, pins, and honor cords to the commissionees.

During the ceremony each commissionee had an officer they chose come up and administer the Army Oath of Office to them to officially commission them as a 2LT into the U.S. Army.

The Army Oath of Office

I (state your name), have been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States in the grade of Second Lieutenant do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.

EWU ROTC Professor of Military Science, LTC Jonathan Stafford commissions John Howard, Jordan Johnson, and Tyler Roylance as Second Lieutenants into the U.S. Army.

Retired Major Robert Riedel, EWU ROTC Recruiting and Operations Officer gives the Officer Oath of Office to Haley Bent.

Captain Nicholas Carbaugh, the Assistant PMS for the Fighting Eagles battalion gives the Officer Oath of Office to Tyler Bergman, Scott Hinshaw, Kyle Isaacson, Bryce Stanton, and Kyle Stanton.

First Lieutenant Violet Falealili gives the Officer Oath of Office to Candace Madriaga.

2LT Rebecca Trout gives the Officer Oath of Office to Hayley Primm.

Retired LTC Therese Lally gives the Officer Oath of Office to her son 2LT Ryan Smith.

Following the Officer Oath of Office family members then came up and put on the Second Lieutenant shoulder board rank on to the new officers. After the pinning of the new rank each newly minted officer received their first salute from the enlisted person of their choice. Part of the tradition of the first salute is that the enlisted servicemember receives a silver dollar from the officer.

The parents for 2LT Tyler Roylance pin on his new rank.

Sergeant First Class David Ratliff, the EWU ROTC Senior Military Science Instructor gives the first salute to 2LT Haley Bent.

The path to this day was not an easy one for the Class of 2019. All these Cadets conducted up to 4 years of military training in the ROTC program, had to meet rigorous academic requirements, build strong physical fitness, pass the 37-day long ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, among of host of other challenging requirements before they could commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The Class of 2019 though did not just pass requirements, they excelled. For example, at ROTC Advanced Camp, which is the premier training event for Cadet Command, 63% of the commissionees scored either an “Outstanding” or “Excellent” rating which are the two highest scores at Advanced Camp. This was higher than the Cadet Command average of 48%.

2LT Kyle Isaacson has his rank pinned on by his parents.

This group further exceeded Cadet Command branching averages. Branching is a highly competitive process since these are the career positions that Cadets across the country compete against each other for. The Cadet Command average for receiving a first branch choice was 60%, the average for the EWU ROTC class of 2019 was 83%.

Master Chief James Peterson renders the first salute to 2LT Bryce Stanton.

Cadets from this group were also very active on campus executing cannon crew duties during the home football games, participating in volunteer activities such as our annual blood drive, assisting with color guard, and being part of the Ranger Challenge team. Four of the commissionees, Scott Hinshaw, John Howard, Bryce Stanton and Kyle Stanton also helped lead our Ranger Challenge team to place first in four of 11 of the events at this past years Ranger Challenge competition.

2LT Scott Hinshaw is congratulated by his parents.

2LT Tyler Bergman has his rank pinned on by his parents.

There was also a lot of individual excellence. 2LT Bryce Stanton was also selected earlier this year as one of the Cadets to represent our ROTC brigade at the George C. Marshall Leadership Seminar at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Hayley Bent was then selected as one of the top 100 ROTC Cadets from across the nation to attend the Mission Command Conference at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Further excellence was shown by Kyle Stanton receiving an Army Achievement Medal for the top ruck march time at the U.S. Army Air Assault school last summer.

2LT Kyle Stanton has his rank pinned on by his parents.

It is no surprise that these three Second Lieutenants, Haley Bent, Bryce Stanton, and Kyle Stanton were also recognized as Distinguished Military Graduates. Only 20% of Cadets across the country receive such an honor and three of them came from the EWU ROTC Class of 2019.

The Class of 2019 are clearly an outstanding group of commissionees that have continued the long tradition of excellent officers coming from the EWU Army ROTC program. Congratulations to the Army’s newest Second Lieutenants.