The University of Memphis Army ROTC held a mixer Thursday to spotlight exceptional cadets and host a blood-drive for the American Red Cross.
The event, held at Memorial Field, featured free food and a climbing wall to help ease cadets back into their school routine.
Lt. Col. Dave Palmer, a professor of Military Sciences and Chair of the department of Military Sciences, led the brief ceremony that recognized cadets who have completed different tasks during the summer.
Seniors in the program, formally referred to as Cadet Captains, supervised a roll call of underclassmen before Palmer began the awards ceremony.
The newest cadets were recognized in advance of their official contract signing, which will eventually determine whether they will enter the Army as officers or enlisted soldiers.
Several cadets received awards for scoring 250 or higher out of a possible 300 points on their physical training test. One of those cadets, senior Derrell Peterson, bragged on the Army ROTC’s success in a recent competition between the military branches.
“There was a relay race, flag football and dodgeball,” he said. “It’s for bragging rights”
Though the cadets in The U of M ROTC program are still civilians, the leaders are all officers in the Army.
Palmer clarified their status, saying, “We’re all on active duty.”
The goal of ROTC is to graduate the cadets from the program, making them commissioned officers.
Alumnus Zebulon M. Pike recently returned to Memphis for a two week break from action in Iraq.
He gave an insight to what these cadets have to look forward to after graduating. He told them about some of the good things he has been doing there.
“We sponsor three schools,” he said. “There’s about 1,000 guys in our group that built the schools and we provide books, desks and whatever else they need.”
The donations received through the blood drive will go to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
