In ROTC ceremony, Yale honors its ‘next generation of leaders’

Yale recognized the Air Force, Naval, and Army ROTC graduates who now join the ranks of the U.S. armed services during the university’s annual commissioning ceremony on Monday. 

During the ceremony, held in Battell Chapel following the university’s annual Commencement, cadets and midshipmen from Yale College’s Class of 2025, as well as graduates from other nearby colleges, received their official appointments as military officers. 

New officers included two cadets who were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army, three candidates were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Marine Corps, five midshipmen were commissioned as ensigns in the U.S. Navy, 11 cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force, and two cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Space Force.

During the ceremony, Col. Les Oberg, the Air Force ROTC commander at Yale, reminded graduates that they join a tradition of service to a mission about something greater than themselves: they now serve their country.  

“It’s not about you,” he said, “it’s about a mission that has been honed, modified, refined, and improved over many years,” he said. “And it is now your responsibility to dutifully execute and improve.”

During a keynote address, Brigadier General Christopher Amrhein, commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Force Accessions Center and commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, urged graduates to continue seeking opportunities to learn throughout their careers, to seek counsel and mentorship, and to always do their best. 

“This nation is trusting you to do your best every single day and to be ready in its time of need,” he said. “You never know when that will happen.”

In her first military commissioning ceremony as Yale president, Maurie McInnis reminded the Yale seniors of the rich tradition of leadership of which they are now part. 

“Today you join a long and illustrious line of Yale graduates who exemplified our highest ideals of leadership and service,” she said. “From the Revolutionary War through this very hour, generations of Yalies have served honorably in times of peace and peril, and moments of solidarity and strife.

“That proud tradition of service continues to thrive, embodied in each of you before me, Yale’s next generation of leaders.”