|
by BRITTANY PENLAND
News Reporter
Three Appalachian State University Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet graduates were commissioned as second lieutenants in the United States Army at a ceremony held Dec. 20 in Valborg Theater.
The lieutenants include Christopher M. DiMaio, Mitchell S. Rick and Gregory T. Lewis.
 Three Appalachian State University graduates (r to l) Christopher M. DiMaio, Gregory T. Lewis, and Mitchell S. Rick are commissioned as second lieutenants by the United States Army Dec. 20. Special to The Appalachian |
“These guys are
going to go out and this is going to be a very exciting time,” military
science and leadership professor Lt. Col. Haimes A. Kilgore said.
“Right now our nation is at war and they are going to go be able to
lead soldiers. That’s what they’ve trained for and that’s what most of
them want to do and most of them are going to get the chance to do that
very quickly.”
DiMaio
graduated from Appalachian last semester with a degree in construction
management and plans to go to flight school to be a medical officer
pilot.
“I want to fly medevac helicopters,” he said. “That’s my goal, but I won’t find that out until the end of May.”
Earning a degree in criminal justice, Lewis will go into active duty with the North Carolina Army National Guard.
“I feel
[ROTC] prepared me and the other cadets very well,” he said. “I am very
lucky to be in the Appalachian program because I think it is one of the
best I’ve seen.”
Rick
obtained a degree in middle grades education and will join the
transportation corps with the North Carolina Army National Guard and
then become a teacher.
“More than anything I’m excited about starting my career as a teacher,” he said.
Former
Appalachian graduate, Lt. Col. Michael W. Minor, was the speaker at the
commission ceremony. Currently, Minor is the deputy commanding officer
of the 1st Brigade Combat, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.
“[Minor]
is very current on the War on Terror and we wanted to bring him back to
speak to the cadets who were getting promoted,” Kilgore said.
Last semester, Kilgore said the ROTC program had 120 students and plans to accommodate between 130 and 135 cadets this semester.
He also
said most of Appalachian’s ROTC students want to go into the Army and
many chose to stay in North Carolina, serving in either the North
Carolina National Guard or in the Army Reserve.
Kilgore estimates 60 percent of the cadets plan to go into active duty.
“I’m
jealous. I would trade places with them in a heartbeat,” Kilgore said.
“I would give them all of my pay and allowances just to go back and do
what they are fixing to do.”
When
asked if the three men who were commissioned had any fears about their
futures in the military, each said no. They said they are excited and
are looking forward to the future.
“I
signed up knowing what I was getting into,” DiMaio said. “I signed up
while we were at war. It’d be dumb not to think I was going to be sent
to Iraq or Afghanistan.”
Trackback(0)
 |
News 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
