LTC Leo McGonagle,
Professor of Military Leadership at MIT
June 4, 2008
PRESIDENT FAUST, DR GILROY, GEN OELSTROM, GEN DAVENPORT, ADVOCATES FOR HARVARD ROTC, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, EDUCATORS, ADMINISTRATORS, STUDENTS, HARVARD REUINION CLASS OF ‘58, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY MEMBERS – WELCOME TO THE 2008 HARVARD UNIVERSITY COMMISSIONING.
WHEN OFFICER CANDIDATES SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE THEIR ACADEMIC AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING REQUIREMENTS AND ARE DEEMED READY TO BECOME OFFICERS, IT IS CUSTOMARY THAT A COMMISSIONING CEREMONY IS HELD IN THEIR HONOR. THIS CEREMONY MARKS THE TRANSITION FROM OFFICER CANDIDATE TO OFFICER AND SERVES AS A SPECIAL INDUCTION INTO THE MILITARY. THESE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ARE ABOUT TO TAKE AN OATH TO PROTECT AND SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. THIS OATH WAS ESTABLISHED ON JUNE 1ST, 1789. AS THE UNITED STATES’ FIRST LAW, CONGRESS ENSURED THAT CIVIL AND MILITARY LEADERS WILL PROMISE THEIR ALLEGIANCE TO THE COUNTRY.
THE FIVE STUDENTS SEATED BEFORE YOU HAVE PLACED SERVICE OVER SELF AND HAVE EXPRESSED A WILLING DESIRE TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY, EVEN MORE NOTABLE SINCE THEY ARE POST 9- 11 VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE WILLINGLY STEPPED FORWARD TO DEFEND A NATION AT WAR. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT AS NEWLY COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS RECOGNIZED THEM FOR THEIR PATRIOTISM, VALOR, FIDELITY, AND ABILITIES.
TO OUR COMMISSIONEES, I OFFER YOU 3 POINTS OF ADVICE AS YOU PREPARE TO SERVE THE NATION AND TO LEAD AMERICA’S SON’S AND DAUGHTER’S:
FIRST, I CHALLENGE YOU TO TREAT EVERY TRAINING EVENT AS IF IT WERE YOUR LAST. EVERY DAY THAT YOU SERVE, YOU WILL DO TWO THINGS. YOU WILL TRAIN SUBORDINATES AND YOU WILL GROW THEM INTO LEADERS. LEADERSHIP IS OUR STOCK IN TRADE, AND WARFIGHTING READINESS RESIDES WITH YOU, AT THE FOXHOLE LEVEL. THERE IS NO WAY TO PREDICT IN WHAT WAYS YOUR NATION WILL CALL UPON YOU TO LEAD: WHAT EXTRAORDINARY THINGS YOU WILL BE ASKED TO DO. SO DON'T SQUANDER YOUR TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES. ENSURE THAT THE UNIT YOU ARE CHARGED TO LEAD IS PREPARED AND TRAINED TO ACCOMPLISH ITS MISSIONS. WE’RE COUNTING ON YOU.
SECOND, LEARN THE STANDARDS AND DON’T WALK BY A DEFICIENCY, EITHER IN TRAINING OR IN INDIVIDUAL DEPARTURES FROM MILITARY VALUES. ONCE YOU COMPROMISE ON A STANDARD, EARNING THE TRUST OF SUBORINATES BECOMES ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT. INTERNALIZE THOSE VALUES …THAT SET OF STANDARDS BY WHICH WE LIVE: LOYALTY, DUTY, RESPECT, SELFLESS SERVICE, HONOR, INTEGRITY, AND PERSONAL COURAGE. THEY GROUND OUR PROFESSION AND KEEP US FOCUSED ON WHAT TRULY MATTERS.
FINALLY, RECOGNIZE THAT LEADING AMERICAN SERVICEMEMBERS IS AN AFFAIR OF THE HEART. THE AIRMEN, SAILORS, AND SOLDIERS YOU WILL LEAD ARE ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT YOUNG PEOPLE. THEY CARRY THE HOPES AND THE WILL OF OUR NATION ON THEIR SHOULDERS AND THEY SUCCEED BEYOND ALL OF OUR EXPECTATIONS. LOOK TO THEIR WELL-BEING. THEY WILL BE YOUR SOLDIERS, AND YOU THEIR LEADER. LEADING AMERICAN SERVICEMEMBERS IS AN AFFAIR OF THE HEART, AND THE WISDOM AND TRUTH OF THIS CONCEPT WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE APPARENT WITH EVERY DAY THAT YOU SERVE. YOUR RESPECTIVE ROTC PROGRAMS WILL MISS EACH ONE OF YOU. WE COMMEND YOUR DEDICATION, WORK ETHIC, AND WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED AS SCHOLAR-ATHLETE-LEADERS. WE’RE PROUD AND GRATIFIED TO KNOW THAT YOU WILL SOON BE OUT THERE LEADING AND CARING FOR OUR FELLOW SERVICEMEMBERS
PAUSE…
HARVARD UNIVERSITY HAS A LONG AND PROUD MILITARY HISTORY DATING BACK TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR WHEN GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRACKED HIS CONTINENTAL ARMY IN HARVARD BUILDINGS. TODAY’S HARVARD REGIMENT TRACES ITS ORIGINS BACK TO THE 20TH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY FROM THE CIVIL WAR. DURING WORLD WAR ONE, SIX OF THE US ARMY’S AIR CORPS’ ACES WERE HARVARD GRADUATES. DURING WORLD WAR TWO THE YARD WAS TRANSFORMED INTO THE NAVAL RADIO SCHOOL. TODAY, HARVARD’S TRADITION OF SERVICE TO THE NATION CONTINUES THROUGH THE STUDENT - COMMISSIONEES SEATED BEFORE YOU.
DREW GILPIN FAUST took office as Harvard’s 28th president on July 1, 2007. A historian of the U.S. Civil War and the American South, she is also the Lincoln Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She previously served as founding dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Before coming to Radcliffe, President Faust was the Annenberg Professor of History and director of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of six books, including, most recently, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, published in January 2008. Her honors include awards in 1982 and 1996 for distinguished teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994 and the American Philosophical Society in 2004. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr in 1968, magna cum laude with honors in history, and master’s and doctoral degrees in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING PRESIDENT FAUST.