Commissioning Ceremony Fall 2022

The Army ROTC Department commissioned another eight Cadets for the fall 2022 semester. The traditional ceremony was held in the CASE building on the CU-Boulder campus on Friday, December 16th at 1:30 p.m. A zoom link was supplied to those friends and family members that were unable to attend in person.

All commissioning events are managed by designated Cadet leaders. Cadet Brendon Himes (MSIII) and Cadet Claire Fleckenstein (MSII) were the organizers and emcees for the days event. The AROTC A-Company Senior Assistant Professor of Military Science (SrAPMS), Captain Chris Head was the officer in charge.

CDT Fleckenstein led the ceremony with the National Anthem and then the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance. The Invocation was performed by CPT Head. Followed by a warm welcome by our very own Lieutenant Colonel Bryce Kawaguchi and an inspirational speech was given by the guest speaker Brigadier General James K. Dooghan.
 
The Cadets were then officially sworn in as Second Lieutenants with the Oath of Office. LTC Kawaguchi was asked to administer the Oath to five of the commissionees, the remaining selected a friend or family member to administer their Oath. Friends and family assisted the 2LTs by pinning on their rank to their uniform. And the traditional first “Silver Dollar Salute” was given by MSG Thaj Davis or SFC Nathan Cohen.

The eight Cadets that are now officially Second Lieutenant’s in the United States Army, are as follows (alphabetical order):
1.    2LT Hannah Badger – from Mission Viejo, California, majored in Mechanical Engineering and commissioned into Finance
2.    2LT Corbin Hoppe – from Superior, Colorado, majored in Civil Engineering and commissioned into the Engineer Corps*
3.    2LT Riley Iwanaga – from Mililani, Hawaii, majored in Computer Science and commissioned into Cyber
4.    2LT Jon Mullins – from Albuquerque, New Mexico, majored in Integrative Physiology and commissioned into Field Artillery
5.    2LT Danielle Pothier – from Chanhassen, Minnesota, majored in Integrative Physiology and commissioned into the Military Intelligence
6.    2LT Benjamin Shallenberger – from New Orleans, Louisiana, majored in Civil Engineering and commissioned into the Military Intelligence branch detail Field Artillery*
7.    2LT Austin Soelzer – from Folsom, California, majored in Geography and commissioned into the Transportation Corps
8.    2LT Juliana Zitron – from Atlanta, Georgia, majored in Geology and commissioned into the Engineer Corps

* Distinguished Military Graduate – Cadet Command Selected

Congratulations to our new Second Lieutenants. May your new experiences with the U.S. Army be as rich and fulfilling as they were here at CU-Boulder.