Two CMU Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army May 7, just hours after receiving their undergraduate degrees at commencement.
Joe Alexander of Cheboygan and Jeff Rosenberg of Rochester Hills were both commissioned.
Alexander is now serving duty as a gold bar recruiter in the CMU Army ROTC, then will go on to the Officer Base Course for the Medical Services Corps at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Rosenberg is branched in Aviation and began immediate active duty at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Each cadet is required to serve four years of active duty in the Army and four years of reserve duty.
“These are the first two cadets under my command that I can claim some of the blame for what they have done and what they will do in the future,” said Lt. Col. Chuck Minyard, military science department chair.
“They have a lot of training ahead of them.”
Retired Col. Mel Remus, Plant Engineering and Planning director for Facilities Management, delivered the keynote address at the ceremony and emphasized the duties the cadets would have to live up to as second lieutenants.
Remus entered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1954 and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.
“You need to do your duty to God, your country and your family. Do nothing to dishonor yourself, your family or the U.S. Army,” he said.
Remus advised the cadets to remember four distinct points during their service.
Cadets still going through the ROTC program will be one of their greatest teachers, he said.
“Listen to your leaders and encourage and develop your noncommissioned officers. They should be, they must be one of your guiding lights.”
Remus also advised them to balance their family with their workload.
“Don’t become too much of a non-caring workaholic,” he said.
“You’re going to have some great, great times and memories. Make them ones you’ll be proud of for the rest of your lives.”
The cadets were presented with sabers and distinguished military graduate certificates given to the top 25 percent of in the military science class. Their rank was pinned on their uniforms and they received commissioning certificates, officially marking them as second lieutenants.
Minyard delivered the final remarks.
“Remember you just took an oath,” he said. “The armed forces of the United States are defenders of that freedom. We swear to defend the Constitution. While in uniform, we swear to remain neutral and apolitical.”

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