ROTC cadets at UMaine earn their commissions

ORONO – After 2nd Lt. George Ouellette accepted his commission certificate from Gov. John Baldacci and Maj. Gen. Bill Libby on Friday, a young, innocent voice in the crowd interrupted the formal Army ceremony.

“Hi, Dada,” rang out across the University of Maine’s Minsky Recital Hall, bringing a brief smile to Ouellette’s otherwise stern face.

In one very measured movement, Ouellette cupped his right hand and discreetly waved to his daughter Aryanna, 4.

“We have been doing this for a while,” said his wife, Elizabeth, 28, as her eyes brimmed with tears. “This has been quite a road.”

Ouellette, 27, of Bangor served four years in the active duty Army before returning to Maine to obtain a degree in criminal justice. He served as a sergeant with the Maine Army National Guard while in school. After graduation, Ouellette will return to active duty service in a military police unit in Fort Knox, Ky., now as an officer.

Ouellette and five other graduating cadets of UM’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps were commissioned to the rank of second lieutenant after completing the equivalent of four years’ training through the university program.

While six cadets were commissioned Friday, the university graduated 10 from the program this year. Six of those 10 have joined, or soon will join, the Maine Army National Guard, said Lt. Col. Kevin Harris, commander of the Black Bear Battalion. Two took the oath Friday night.

Barbara Flagg of Winterport has been to several UM commissioning ceremonies, since three of her sons have graduated from the program. In fact, her son Capt. Aaron Flagg, 25, was on hand to administer the oath of office to his brother Jacob. Aaron just returned home from his second tour of duty in Afghanistan in time for the ceremony.

“I’m not sure words can describe how wonderful it is that [Aaron] made it,” Barbara Flagg said. “I’m really proud of all three of them, but I’m obviously concerned.”

Jacob Flagg will serve active duty Army with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

The ceremony was also a family affair for 2nd Lt. Christopher Byrnes, who recited the oath after his father, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Byrnes.

“Obviously, I’m proud of him, but he definitely made the decision himself,” said Michael Byrnes. “He was always a kid who said he wasn’t going to have a desk job.”

Also achieving the rank of second lieutenant was Heather Adams of Portsmouth, Mass., Mark Mancini of Avon, Conn., and Winfield Swanton of Holden.

While proud of their young soldiers, the raging war made the ceremony bittersweet for many of the loved ones in attendance.

Before his invocation, Lt. Col. Richard Dickinson, chaplain of the Maine Air National Guard, reminded the audience of the sacrifices the young soldiers have made in their transition from student to Army officers.

“This evening as we come together, we do so in the peace and security of this campus, and yet under the veil of war,” he said.