Lt. Col. Joel Miller

The MTSU military science department’s Fall 2012 Commissioning Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14, in Keathley University Theater.

Two senior Blue Raider Battalion cadets, who also are degree candidates for Saturday’s commencement ceremonies in Murphy Center, will be commissioned.

“It represents a culmination as well as a new beginning,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joel Miller, professor of military science at MTSU. “It is the culmination of several years of schooling and training and the beginning of new opportunities and responsibilities as officers in the Army.”

Friday’s commissioning ceremony will be the first for Miller since he arrived at MTSU this past summer. He oversaw the swearing-in ceremony in August just before fall classes began.

Tommie F. Lane Jr. of Clarksville, Tenn., and Austin J. Blanchard of Franklin, Tenn., will be commissioned into reserve forces duty. They will be assigned to the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment with the Tennessee Army National Guard.

Lane is the son of Julia Lane of Clarksville, Tenn., and Tommie Lane Sr. of Wrens, Ga. Blanchard is the son of Jerry and Lisa Blanchard of Franklin.

MTSU military science is one of 10 departments in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)