Media Advisory – ROTC Joint Commissioning Ceremony

May 07, 2019

Media Advisory – ROTC Joint Commissioning Ceremony

A total of 18 U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets will receive their commissions as second lieutenants into their respective military branches during ceremonies Friday at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

The ceremony will provide reporters, photographers and news crews an excellent opportunity to discuss with students their thoughts on graduating from SIU Carbondale and joining the military. The joint ceremony begins 1 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom B. Directly following the joint commission ceremony, Army ROTC cadets will have their commissioning in the Student Center; the Air Force ROTC commissioning is at 2:30 p.m. in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium.

The commissioned cadets will also participate in commencement exercises on Saturday at the SIU Arena.

Chancellor John M. Dunn will provide opening remarks. U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. James E. Bonner, a native of Anna and 1988 SIU Carbondale and ROTC alumnus, is the guest speaker.

In July 2017 Bonner assumed command of the U.S. Army’s 20 th CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives) Command. As the commander of the Army and Department of Defense’s sole CBRNE organization, Bonner is responsible for manning, equipping and training more than 5,300 soldiers and civilians across two explosive ordinance disposal groups, one chemical brigade and CBRNE analytical and remediation activity.

For more information, contact Mary Kappel with the U.S. Air Force ROTC at 618/453-2481 or mkappel@siu.edu or Sandy Brown with the U.S. Army ROTC at 618/453-5786 or sandyb@siu.edu.