just curious, is the May 15 actual commissioning date or just the commissioning ceremony?
I can't answer this with certainty, but I can tell you what I saw on May 15th.
At 9:00am, there was a Joint Service Commissioning Ceremony. All commissioning cadets wore their Class A's/Service Dress and took their seats down on the floor level of Cameron Hall (the basketball court) with the Corps of Cadets, friends, and family sitting in the stands. ROTC Instructors were also down on the floor level, sitting behind the commissionees.
Each branch had a distinguished guest, so the stage was full of sweet flags with all kinds of stars. Army went first, with their guest speaker providing a few words of wisdom and then administering the oath to each of the commissioning Army Cadets in unison. I think the Marine Corps was next, then Navy, then the Air Force.
Once this was done, each branch had their own individual swearing in ceremonies at a different location. The cadets get to choose who swears them in (as long as it's an officer), they typically have family or close friends pin on their butter bars, and then they have an enlisted service member (or occasionally a VMI cadet) render their first salute.
Since I'm in the Class of 2009, the Class of 2012 are my rats class. A lot of my Brother Rats came back for commissioning and graduation. Several of the brand new 2LTs/Ensigns had their dykes swear them in, which was very cool. My rat commissioned Air Force, and she had her brother (who's VMI Class of '05) swear her in.
After her swearing in, she walked over to a table that was off to the side and signed a bunch of paperwork. This is the part I'm not certain about, but I believe it was at that point that she legally became a 2d Lt in the United States Air Force.
Hope this helps, for those who know more of the technicalities than I do!
Btw, here's the link to the
photo album. That's her in 24, 25, and 32.
-jmb-