Commissioning 2015

Cluelessparent said:
DS commissioned in Summerall Chapel, a Citadel tradition. Nice but the pits as far as allowed attendees and pics. No way to get good pics and were limited to 5 tickets. He had two members of his guard unit present who wanted to be there or participate so this limited the family tickets immensely. The touch on the State Capitol steps rocks... but we all know the real USC is in the UPSTATE :)

Kinnem Congrats to you, family and DS!!! And also Congrats to all who had someone commission or soon too commission!
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cardinal21 said:
Cluelessparent said:
DS commissioned in Summerall Chapel, a Citadel tradition. Nice but the pits as far as allowed attendees and pics. No way to get good pics and were limited to 5 tickets. He had two members of his guard unit present who wanted to be there or participate so this limited the family tickets immensely. The touch on the State Capitol steps rocks... but we all know the real USC is in the UPSTATE :)

Kinnem Congrats to you, family and DS!!! And also Congrats to all who had someone commission or soon too commission!
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A minor point , but the real USC is my alma mater the University of Southern California.
 
EDelahanty said:
Congratulations Jcleppe to your son and your family. It would have been great if his brother officer (officer brother?) could have been there as well.

By the way, you do know it's "butterbars", not "butterfingers" don't you?
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I think I just spit coffee all over my keyboard.

Older brother was really bummed he could not be there, but he did the next best thing. It was 8:30am Sat. in Korea during the commissioning. We called him on Facetime just before things started and my sister held up the phone and he watched the whole commissioning. It was really special when younger son was saying his piece on stage and he told his brother how he looked up to him and thanked him for being a mentor.
 
Jcleppe said:
The next day was graduation, at my son's school all the cadets and mids from each service wear their uniforms, not a cap and gown. They walk in with the Professors and sit front and center of the stage. After the commencement speech the University President says a few words about ROTC, then he turns the stage over to the highest Ranking officer in attendance, BG Peterson. The cadets and mids stand and they are all sworn in again. If there was a kleenex moment it was when they finished and were introduced as newly commissioned officers and the crowd gave a long standing ovation that seemed to last forever.
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I would have loved to have been there to witness this ^^^. I get chills watching even youtube videos of soldiers coming home to sporting events and getting that standing ovation.
 
Jcleppe said:
Older brother was really bummed he could not be there, but he did the next best thing. It was 8:30am Sat. in Korea during the commissioning. We called him on Facetime just before things started and my sister held up the phone and he watched the whole commissioning. It was really special when younger son was saying his piece on stage and he told his brother how he looked up to him and thanked him for being a mentor.
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That story just made my day
 
Jcleppe - Congrats to your DS and family. I've been waiting to see you post!

Over these crazy years so many of us of have benefited from your knowledge and humor about the AROTC process from scholarship boards to shoulder boards :rolleyes: So very pleased that your family and DS had a wonderful commissioning and graduation ceremony to celebrate!
 
Thanks for your wisdom over the years Jcleppe. Today was the day DS reported to Ft Knox to return at an unknown time. I realized he's left many times but always with a known return date. It's great that he's on the payroll! Especially since his final semester scholarship funds have still not paid out to him.

Anyone have a best guess how long it takes to actually get a paycheck once you are on active duty? I'm hoping there is not a 5 month delay like when he was a cadet.
 
paradoxer said:
Anyone have a best guess how long it takes to actually get a paycheck once you are on active duty? I'm hoping there is not a 5 month delay like when he was a cadet.
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It will really depend on when he's able to inprocess through finance and where that date is in relation to the pay cutoff date. And if nothing gets screwed up between him and the finance people putting everything in the system. Expect roughly a month for him to get it straight on average. Took me a little less than that, but I know others where it took a bit longer. Keep it simple with the finance people at first and make changes later if necessary. Some steady pay is better than no pay at all. Make sure (well, hopefully he makes sure) he keeps up with what he should be getting paid and what he is getting paid.
 
Jcleppe said:
I think I just spit coffee all over my keyboard.

Older brother was really bummed he could not be there, but he did the next best thing. It was 8:30am Sat. in Korea during the commissioning. We called him on Facetime just before things started and my sister held up the phone and he watched the whole commissioning. It was really special when younger son was saying his piece on stage and he told his brother how he looked up to him and thanked him for being a mentor.
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Don't see it could get any better than this ....Congrats!
 
paradoxer said:
Anyone have a best guess how long it takes to actually get a paycheck once you are on active duty? I'm hoping there is not a 5 month delay like when he was a cadet.
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DD reported to BOLC around Sept 9 and didn't get paid until the end of October. Fortunately, she had a bit of a cash reserve and since her BOLC was TDY, she didn't have many day-to-day living expenses. However, I think I did have to pay a couple of her bills for her towards the end of the payless period. Part of the challenge in getting things straightened out was not having blocks of time during normal working hours to go visit the folks who could help. Her pay is still not being directly deposited into the account where she would really like it to go, but at least it is being deposited!
 
Jcleppe said:
Well....7 years ago our family started the AROTC journey and this weekend we watched our younger son bring this chapter to a close with his commissioning ceremony. It's been a long and wild at times ride and we couldn't be prouder.

Son's commissioning went great, they were sworn in by BG Peterson, Commanding General of the Special Operations Aviation Command, a Graduate from my son's school and ROTC.

Now for the bars...well, we didn't drop them but I just could not get mine to clip on, fumbling is an understatement, the Master Sergeant came over to help, I was relieved to see he had the same problem, they finally went on and all was right with the world again.

The next day was graduation, at my son's school all the cadets and mids from each service wear their uniforms, not a cap and gown. They walk in with the Professors and sit front and center of the stage. After the commencement speech the University President says a few words about ROTC, then he turns the stage over to the highest Ranking officer in attendance, BG Peterson. The cadets and mids stand and they are all sworn in again. If there was a kleenex moment it was when they finished and were introduced as newly commissioned officers and the crowd gave a long standing ovation that seemed to last forever.

Even though my sons are close to 3 years apart, I swear they sometimes act like twins, I would have never guessed that they would both go to the same college, the same ROTC, belong to the same Fraternity, both branch Aviation.....heck, they ended college with the same GPA.

All in all it was a great weekend, I'd like to thank all of you on this board for all the help, advice, and support over these last years.

Congratulations to all those that have commissioned and those that are soon to commission, good luck and God's Speed.
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This is awesome Jcleppe. Thank you to you and your sons! Congratulations to the Class of 2015 near and far!
 
Well, I guess I'm the last of the regulars with a newly minted 2LT as of Friday. The keynote speaker, an Army Major Gen. was excellent. I was impressed by his buddies. The bars fit snugly. The Navy/Marines still have the best looking uniforms. I never questioned his physical and intellectual capabilities or his determination. At the end of the day, I think I am happiest that DS developed a deep respect for the NCO's. We are not a military family, thus a military bearing was something he had to learn about later in life.

Without listing names, I would like to shout out to kinnem. From his answer to my first inquiry to his most recent post, he has been nothing other than a consummate gentleman. When he speaks, it touches my heart.

Scout, on the other hand...When he speaks, it touches my gut.

I would like to thank all of you for your help and guidance in doing undercover intel on what the hell my DS was up to, since he kept me on a need to know basis, and I didn't need to know much.
 
cb7893 said:
Well, I guess I'm the last of the regulars with a newly minted 2LT as of Friday. The keynote speaker, an Army Major Gen. was excellent. I was impressed by his buddies. The bars fit snugly. The Navy/Marines still have the best looking uniforms. I never questioned his physical and intellectual capabilities or his determination. At the end of the day, I think I am happiest that DS developed a deep respect for the NCO's. We are not a military family, thus a military bearing was something he had to learn about later in life.

Without listing names, I would like to shout out to kinnem. From his answer to my first inquiry to his most recent post, he has been nothing other than a consummate gentleman. When he speaks, it touches my heart.

Scout, on the other hand...When he speaks, it touches my gut.

I would like to thank all of you for your help and guidance in doing undercover intel on what the hell my DS was up to, since he kept me on a need to know basis, and I didn't need to know much.
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You are far too kind sir. Congratulations to your DS and your entire family. Revel in his accomplishment. It's no easy task.
 
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