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Cadets become officers
Austin Parrish, Frontenac, receives his first salute as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army, from his grandfather, Friday. Parrish and 10 other ROTC cadets took the oath and received their bars at the spring commissioning ceremony in the PSU Veterans Memorial as spring commencement activities began. RON WOMBLE/THE MORNING SUN

PITTSBURG, Kan. --As the 11 Pittsburg State ROTC cadets prepared to take their commissioning oaths, Friday, Brigadier General Matthew Braman, the keynote speaker for the ceremony, paused the program to remind the cadets of the importance of the words they were about to repeat.

He told the cadets about his own commissioning. At that ceremony, he said, in addition to raising his right hand, he was asked to clutch the folds of a U.S. flag in his left hand before pledging to “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…”

He reminded the cadets that they were not pledging allegiance to a person, king or monarch, but to a set of ideals greater than any individual, embodied in the Constitution.

After taking their oaths, each new 2nd lieutenant had his or her bars, signifying rank, pinned on by family members and friends. Each also received their first salute as an officer. For some, that first salute was delivered by a family member who had served or was currently serving in the military.

A man and a woman pin bars on the shoulders of a new Army officer.
Gavin Wells’ wife and father pin on his 2nd lieutenant bars while his mother holds his young daughter during commissioning ceremonies at the PSU Veterans Memorial, Friday. RON WOMBLE/THE MORNING SUN

A man at a podium addresses cadets, families and friends.
Brigadier General Matthew Braman speaks to the new officers commissioned, Friday, at the PSU Veterans Memorial. RON WOMBLE/THE MORNING SUN

A female U.S. Army cadet takes the oath.
Kylie Henderson takes the oath from her father at the PSU ROTC commissioning ceremony, Friday, at the PSU Veterans Memorial. RON WOMBLE/THE MORNING SUN

The new officers and their branch (or assigned career field) are: Joseph Bautch, Air Defense Artillery; Frank Haskell, Aviation; Kylie Henderson, Nurse Corps; Micaella Jordan, Transportation; Mason Martel, Field Artillery; Austin Parrish, Medical Corps; Brady Stanley, Aviation; Seth Strange, Field Artillery; Henry Walters, Field Artillery; Gavin Wells, Aviation; and Kyle Yetka, Field Artillery.