Contact: Maridith Geuder
Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong, president of Mississippi State, will be the keynote speaker for an Aug. 24 ceremony at which some 30 students contract to become cadets with the Bulldog Battalion of the university's Army Reserve Officers Training Corps.
The number of new cadets is nearly double that of the previous year.
The 2 p.m. public ceremony in the Leo Seal M-Club Building represents a formal commitment by freshmen and sophomores that will lead to commissioning upon graduation as second lieutenants in the active Army, Army National Guard or Army Reserve.
Army ROTC cadets receive a stipend, as well as the possibility of scholarships covering tuition and books. In addition to financial assistance, each receives training in leadership skills.
MSU freshmen and sophomores not enrolled in the program also may take ROTC leadership courses as electives.
For the past three years, MSU's Bulldog Battalion has been in the top 15 percent of ROTC programs nationally in meeting or exceeding its commission goals.
For more information on the program, telephone recruiting operations officer Kenneth V. Anthony at 662-325-3503.