Contact: Allison Matthews
Photo by: Beth Newman
Three December Mississippi State graduates of the university's Air Force ROTC program are new second lieutenants, but their recent commissioning represented a departure from the traditional campus setting.
James C. Arnold of Columbus, Daniel J. Lambert of Horn Lake, and Mauriel D. Robinson of Macon took their oaths of service aboard a parked C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft. They were sworn in by Lt. Col. Robert D. Reed, MSU's Detachment 425 commander and professor of aerospace studies.
Named the "Spirit of G. V. 'Sonny' Montgomery," the 174-foot-long troop and equipment transport--which has a 170-foot wingspan--was located for the end-of-semester ceremony at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, located in Lowndes County midway between Starkville and Columbus.
Brig. Gen. William J. Crisler, commander of the 172nd Air National Guard in Jackson, gave a commissioning address. He told the new officers, among other things, "to be like a sponge, continuing to learn as much as possible." He advised them to be humble and take opportunities to help others."
Arnold, a building construction science graduate, soon will begin undergraduate pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base, while Lambert, who received a degree in criminology is joining the AF security forces squadron at Aviano Air Base in Italy. A political science graduate, Robinson will be serving as an intelligence officer at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.