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Seven To 'Lead From The Front' As Second Lieutenants

Earning the rank of second lieutenant at Friday afternoon's Bearkat Battalion Commissioning Ceremony were (front row, from left) John Gonzales and Cristian Villman, as well as (back row, from left) Zachary Mitchell, John Thaler, Bryan Terry and Megan Ressmann. Not pictured, but also commissioned, was Jarrel Huddle.

Seven cadets were told to "take the hard right over the easy wrong" and "lead from the front" during the Bearkat Battalion Commissioning Ceremony on Friday (Aug. 8) afternoon.

Commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army were John Gonzales, Jarrel Huddle, Zachary Mitchell, Megan Ressmann, Bryan Terry, John Thaler and Cristian Villman.

The seven second lieutenants bring the total SHSU seniors commissioned for the 2007-2008 academic year to 19, the most to earn rank in more than a decade.

“The last time we had anything close to that was in 1996, when we had 22,” Lt. Col. Rick King, head of the Military Science department, said before the ceremony.

One of the top 10 percent of cadets in the nation academically and graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate, Gonzales requested and received an active duty commission as an infantry officer. He will serve as a gold bar recruiter with the SHSU ROTC before serving his first duty assignment at Fort Carson, Colo.

“If this is the future of the Army, we’re in pretty good hands,” his brother said during the ceremony, before Gonzales took the “Oath of Office.”

Before helping to present the soldiers’ bars, family members are encouraged to speak on behalf of their students as a ceremony tradition.

Sgt. 1st Class Robert Zeck, a Bearkat Battalion cadre member, watches as newly-commissioned 2nd Lt. Bryan Terry and Terry's grandfather 1st Lt. Wayne Harbaugh, a World War II veteran, cut the cake. The commissioning ceremony tradition calls for the youngest commissioned officer and the oldest serving member of the armed forces in attendance to participate in the cake cutting.

Huddle served in the simultaneous membership program with Huntsville’s 72nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion in the Army National Guard. He received an active duty commission with a branch assignment to military intelligence as an infantry officer and will serve as a gold bar recruiter at Stephen F. Austin State before serving his first active duty assignment at Fort Carson.

Mitchell received an active duty commission as a medical service corps aviation officer and will serve his first duty assignment attending flight school to become a MEDEVAC pilot at Fort Rucker, Ala.

Graduating magna cum laude on Saturday, Ressmann will find out her branch later this year, but aspires to serve in the medical service corps.

Also serving in the simultaneous membership program with Huntsville’s 72nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Terry requested and received an active duty commission as an infantry officer. He will serve as a gold bar recruiter at Prairie View A&M University before serving his first duty assignment at Fort Campbell, Ky.

“He’s an honorable man, and I can’t think of a better career for him,” said Terry’s father during the ceremony.

Thaler requested and received an active duty commission and will serve in the U.S. Army as an air defense artillery officer. His first duty assignment will be at Fort Bliss, Texas.

A Military Officers Association Award recipient during his Leader’s Training Course at Fort Knox, Ky., Villman will find out his branch assignment later this year, but aspires to serve as a military intelligence officer.

“As an immigrant from Mexico, I’m looking at the ‘American dream,’” Villman’s mother said during the ceremony.

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SHSU Media Contacts: Jennifer Gauntt
Aug. 8, 2008
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