On the morning of Saturday May 1, as a crowd of over 80,000 people eagerly anticipated President Barack Obama’s arrival at the Big House, one contingent of University seniors had reason to be particularly excited. For the forty-five Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadets about to be officially commissioned as officers in the U.S. military, President Obama’s presence at the ceremony signified more than it would have for any ordinary University graduate. As chief executive, President Obama carries with him the distinction of being Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces – and on this day, he would be administering the Oath of Office to all of the senior Cadets from Michigan’s ROTC programs in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
“We were all pretty excited,” said newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Christian Snyder. “It was something we had been looking forward to for a couple of months.” In February, the University publically announced that Barack Obama would be delivering the spring 2010 commencement address; however, it was not originally planned for the President to also swear-in the graduating ROTC cadets. “We weren’t real sure until about the end of March that it was going to take place,” said Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Valentine, department chair for the UM Air Force ROTC.
Usually, the President commissions one class of ROTC Cadets every year, and when it became known that Obama would be in Ann Arbor for the 2010 commencement, members of Michigan’s ROTC program knew there was a possibility he would end up doing it here. “We had rumors flying around,” said Second Lieutenant Kelly Carbary. “We were just hoping and hoping that he would do it.”
Although the decision to have President Obama swear in the cadets was ultimately made by the White House, the influence of certain staff members within UM’s Air Force ROTC program may have helped. “Our commander, Colonel Valentine, worked a logistical planning job dealing with Air Force One,” said Second Lieutenant Brandon Dobbs. Colonel Valentine himself did not elaborate on the subject, but did mention that “there were people in the Cadre that had connections” and that these connections probably helped “facilitate” the arrangement.
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