MTSU’s Military Science Program ushered in the fall 2018 semester with a brief formal swearing-in ceremony, as eight newly contracted students took their oaths Thursday, Aug. 23, after passing their physical training exercise this week.

Before administering the oath, U.S. Army Maj. Carrick McCarthy addressed the new and returning cadets, their family members and other supporters, calling the event “Step One of the cadets’ career in the Army. We take this seriously and are very passionate about this.”

U.S. Army Maj. Carrick McCarthy, right, swears in eight new contracted ROTC cadets during the fall 2018 military science swearing-in ceremony held Aug. 23 on campus outside Forrest Hall. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

“Watch out for each other — not just in our building or on campus but also in town,”McCarthy told the cadets. He added that his favorite part of his job is when MTSU cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants; his second-favorite is the swearing-in ceremony “so we can look forward to the day you are second lieutenants.”

New cadets include sophomore Jordan Anderson of Morristown, Tennessee; junior Brittany Bauer and sophomore Sheridan Harrison, both of Murfreesboro; sophomore Alana Kassing of Smyrna, Tennessee; sophomore Maggie Potter of Maryville, Tennessee; graduate student Curtis Rookard of Oak Ridge, Tennessee; sophomore Kevin Vaughn of Franklin, Tennessee; and grad student Juante Williams of Murfreesboro.

The event was one of McCarthy’s first official duties since assuming leadership of the MTSU program in July. He replaced Lt. Col. Jackie McDowell, who now is in Human Resources Command with Special Forces at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In one of McCarthy’s earliest duties on campus, he oversaw the summer commissioning of Bianca Crawford of Memphis, Tennessee, and Phillip Parker of Murfreesboro as U.S. Army second lieutenants.

Crawford recently earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and will serve in the Tennessee Army National Guard. Parker earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and will be with the U.S. Army Reserves.

To learn more about the military science program, visit www.mtsu.edu/arotc1 or call 615-898-2470.

The Department of Military Science is one of 11 in MTSU’s College of Basic and Applied Sciences.

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

U.S. Army Maj. Carrick McCarthy, MTSU’s new ROTC commander, tells the audience how much he, his staff and the cadets appreciate their presence at the Aug. 23 formal swearing-in ceremony outside Forrest Hall. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

The patch worn on MTSU’s ROTC uniforms proclaims “LEADERSHIP and EXCELLENCE.” (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)