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Eastern Washington University ROTC Cadet Awarded the Prestigious Chertok Memorial Scholarship

06/18/2019 by jstafford3

It is university award season and for one Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadet, his outstanding performance was recognized by being selected for the Jeffers Chertok Memorial Scholarship. The Chertok Scholarship is given to deserving College of Social Science (CSS) students between their Junior and Senior years of college. Cadet Chad Triplett was one of two CSS students selected for the scholarship this year that provides funding towards his senior year college tuition.

The scholarship was created to honor the life of Professor Jeffers W. Chertok, PhD, who worked at EWU for more than 34 years. He was well known on campus for his scholarship, generosity and passion for Eastern. Dr. Chertok passed away in 2004, but his legacy towards EWU continues with this scholarship.

Cadet Chad Triplett (right) is pictured with Dr. Jonathan Anderson the Dean of the College of Social Sciences after being recognized as one of the two recipients of the Jeffers Chertok Memorial Scholarship.

Chad Triplett is definitely a CSS student that Dr. Chertok would be proud of. Chad is a Criminal Justice major who has maintained a high GPA, scored a perfect 300 on his Army Physical Fitness Test, was part of the university’s Ranger Challenge team, was awarded a Gold German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge, and active in volunteer activities in the community.

Cadet Chad Triplett

In addition to his college activities, this summer Cadet Triplett is attending ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky which is Cadet Command’s premier training event. Following Advanced Camp Cadet Triplett will then be heading off to Ft. Benning, Georgia to attend the U.S. Army’s Airborne School where he will train to be a paratrooper. Congratulations to Cadet Triplett and thank you to the College of Social Sciences for selecting Chad as a recipient of the prestigious Jeffers Chertok Memorial Scholarship.

“Fighting Eagles” Battalion Color Guard Supports Eastern Washington University Graduation Ceremony

06/17/2019 by jstafford3

This past Saturday our Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion Color Guard team had the honor of presenting our nation’s colors during the two separate graduation ceremonies that day. Both graduation ceremonies were held at a packed Spokane Arena in downtown Spokane.

EWU ROTC Color Guard prepares to present the colors during the 2019 EWU Graduation Ceremony at the Spokane Arena.

The Color Guard led the processions of students and faculty out into the Spokane Arena. The Color Guard then presented the colors on the stage as the EWU Choir sung the national anthem.

EWU ROTC Color Guard team presents the colors during the 2019 EWU Graduation Ceremony.

EWU Color Guard is shown on the Spokane Arena jumbotron.

During the graduation ceremony 12 of our newly commissioned Second Lieutenants also received their diplomas.

2LT Tyler Bergman receives his diploma from the College of Social Sciences Associate Dean Vernon Loke while EWU President Mary Cullinan looks on.

Cadets John Howard, Bryce Stanton, Scott Hinshaw, and Kyle Stanton wait in line to receive their diplomas.

Congratulations to all the 2019 graduates from Eastern Washington University!

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

06/14/2019 by jstafford3

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.

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

EWU Army ROTC Class of 2019

2LT Haley Bent / Major: Business / Branch: Military Intelligence / Distinguished Military Graduate

2LT Tyler Bergman / Major: Criminal Justice / Branch: Ordnance

2LT Scott Hinshaw / Major: Political Science / Branch: Infantry

2LT John Howard / Major: International Affairs / Branch: Transportation Corps

2LT Kyle Isaacson / Major: History / Branch: Field Artillery

2LT Jordan Johnson / Major: Biology / Branch: Adjutant General Corps

2LT Candace Madriaga / Major: Nursing / Branch: Army Nurse Corps

2LT Hayley Primm / Major: Nursing / Branch: Army Nurse Corps

2LT Tyler Roylance / Major: Psychology / Branch: Transportation Corps

2LT Ryan Smith / Major: Political Science / Branch: Quartermaster Corps

2LT Bryce Stanton / Major: Political Science / Branch: Infantry / Distinguished Military Graduate

2LT Kyle Stanton / Major: Political Science / Branch: Infantry / Distinguished Military Graduate

Throwback Thursday: 1955 EWU Army ROTC Cadet Officers

06/13/2019 by jstafford3

Tomorrow, June 14th the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) will be commissioning 12 new Second Lieutenants into the U.S. Army. For this week’s Throwback Thursday, here is a look back at the Cadet officers from the 1955 EWU ROTC class which was the first to commission Second Lieutenants from EWU:

From left to right: Claude O’Brien, Kevin Kramer, Roy Bernd, Frank Eylor, Eugene Siegel, Tom Hoag, John Gower, Robert Corkins, Ned Baxter, Howard Uyeno, Tony Williams, Dick Laughon, Roy Butts, David Braddock, Bill Hoagland, Dennis Clark, Wayne Johnson, Jerry Wakefield.

EWU ROTC to Commission Twelve Cadets as Officers Into the U.S. Army

06/12/2019 by jstafford3

On Friday, June 14, 2019 the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) battalion will be commissioning 12 Cadets as officers into the United States Army. The 2019 Commissioning Ceremony will be held inside the second floor auditorium at Showalter Hall on the EWU campus. The guest speaker for the Commissioning Ceremony is retired Brigadier General Neal Sealock, who commissioned through the EWU ROTC program in 1974. He currently serves as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) for the Eastern Washington region. The ceremony will begin at 10:00 AM and all family, friends, and supporters of the Fighting Eagles battalion is invited to attend and celebrate this significant achievement for our 12 commissioning Cadets.

EWU ROTC Class of 2019 (Back row from left: Kyle Isaacson, Jordan Johnson, Ryan Smith, Scott Hinshaw, Kyle Stanton, Haley Bent, Front row from left: John Howard, Bryce Stanton, Tyler Bergman, and Tyler Roylance; Not pictured: Candace Madriaga & Hayley Primm)

EWU ROTC Cadet Awarded the First Annual Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship

06/12/2019 by jstafford3

This week a Cadet from the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was awarded the first Randy Van Turner ROTC scholarship. The scholarship is in honor of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity’s EWU chapter co-founder First Lieutenant Randy Turner. Randy Turner was a 1968 graduate from the EWU ROTC program who was a recipient of the Silver Star and in 1969 was killed in action during the Vietnam War. This year his fraternity brothers decided to honor his service by establishing an ROTC scholarship program. The scholarship is awarded to EWU ROTC Cadets that demonstrate academic excellence, high physical fitness, leadership, and financial need.

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity members present Cadet Samantha Knight with a scholarship check that covers one year of tuition.

Through a board process Cadet Samantha Knight was chosen as the first Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship recipient. Cadet Knight is a junior (MS-III) Cadet studying nursing who maintains a near 3.9 GPA. Besides being a Cadet, she is also a combat medic in the U.S. Army Reserve. The scholarship will pay her full tuition next year as she pursues her nursing degree and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Next month we will announce our second 2019 Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship awardee, but congratulations to Cadet Knight and big thank you to Pi Kappa Alpha for sponsoring this scholarship in support of our outstanding EWU ROTC Cadets.