Current students and alumni gathered at the MTSU Veterans Memorial on campus Thursday for an inspiring ceremony commemorating 75 years of the Army Recruiting Officers’ Training Corps program.
The celebration included a brief history of the Military Science Department at MTSU, delivered by Retired Major General Max Haston, Tennessee’s 75th Adjutant General. The event also highlighted two inductions into the MTSU ROTC Hall of Fame: retired Col. Joseph M. (Jay) Harmon III and retired Lt. Col. Meg Kelm.
“There is no way to tell our story in just a few minutes … If we could all write it down, it’d be volumes,” Haston said. “75 years from now, I hope there will be a ceremony held right here at this exact spot, honoring the men and women who have come through this program.”
He also said that these past 75 years are only a preview of what is to come.
The program was established with only 93 cadets on April 3, 1950. Since then, it’s produced over 1,600 U.S. military officers.
It was also ranked as the No. 1 program in the nation in 1978, 2001 and 2006.
Harmon is newly appointed to MTSU’s ROTC Hall of Fame. He served the country for 47 years both in and out of uniform and achieved Tier 2 SES rank. He also served as the former deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence.
Harmon said that ROTC encouraged his personal growth and gave him resilience, which he believes is the “key to life.”
Also appointed to the Hall of Fame, Kelm is the director for counterintelligence at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. She is also a tier-one defense intelligence senior executive, making her the highest-ranking woman commissioned through the university’s ROTC program.
Kelm attended MTSU on an ROTC scholarship and is thankful for how the program shaped her.
“It is indeed a great day to be a Blue Raider,” Kelm said.
The celebration also included the excavation of a time capsule buried by the program in 2005. The capsule included newspapers, a can of Coke, tins of tobacco and other items.
“It’s interesting to see people from the past, to see the history of MTSU’s ROTC,” battalion cadet executive officer Maxwell Kawaler said. “… I feel part of a culture that has been around for so long.”
Another time capsule that has not yet been buried was on display as well. It included laminated Sidelines articles, letters to future cadets and Tennessee’s House of Representatives House Joint Resolution No. 101, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the program.
To contact the News editor, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
