Most Cadets In 30 Years Commissioned As Officers During Spring Commencement

The highest number of Texas A&M University students over the past three-plus decades were commissioned as military officers at spring commencement ceremonies in College Station and Texas A&M-Galveston.

The College Station ceremony included the commissioning of 138 members of the Corps of Cadets, representing four branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Additionally, 10 officers will be commissioned and 75 midshipmen of Texas A&M Galveston’s Maritime Academy will receive their officer licenses for the U.S. Merchant Marine during the branch campus’ ceremony tomorrow in Galveston.

Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young said that commissioning is especially meaningful for a university such as Texas A&M, which takes enormous pride in its military history and traditions.

“This ceremony is a fitting tribute to these young men and women and to the values our university holds dear,” Young said.

Joe E. Ramirez, Jr., Brigadier General (Ret.), Commandant of the Corps of Cadets, led the Uniformed Services Oath.

“As countless Aggies who have gone before them, they will swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America,” Ramirez told the commencement crowd, adding that when an officer takes this oath, he or she is assuming great responsibility. “The men and women before you are ready to step forward and freely accept this responsibility.”

In addition to breaking its own record this spring, Texas A&M routinely commissions more officers into the military than any other university in the nation, except for the military academies.

More than 10,500 degrees are being awarded this spring during 15 commencement ceremonies across Texas and at its branch campus in Doha, Qatar.