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CORVALLIS - The annual Joint Service Review of Oregon State University's combined Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs will be held on Friday, April 30, on the Memorial Union Quad beginning at 10 a.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

The reviewing officer is Rear Admiral Jacob Lawrence Shuford, commander of the U.S. Navy's Cruiser Destroyer Group Three. He will review the members of OSU's three service branches - the Navy ROTC, Air Force ROTC, and Army ROTC - and speak to the participants.

For many OSU students, this will be their last formal review before going on to advanced training and possible deployment overseas, said Lt. Kevin Macy, an assistant professor of the OSU Naval Science program, which is coordinating this year's event.

"A lot of these students, after training, will be going off to support the war against terrorism," Macy said.

Macy said as many as half of the 140 Naval ROTC students have served in active duty, including one Marine who was on the ground in Iraq. They are seeking bachelor's degrees, as well as commissions as officers, he added.

A long-standing tradition, the service review appears to have begun in 1917 when Oregon Agricultural College President William Jasper Kerr delivered an address to students about to enter the Army's Officers' Reserve Corp. Many ultimately served in World War I. The present-day Joint Service Review began following the establishment of Naval ROTC and Air Force ROTC after World War II.

Rear Admiral Shuford was in the Naval ROTC program at the University of South Carolina before being commissioned in 1974, serving his initial assignment of the USS Blakley. After a tour in Korea, he studied for two years in France at the Paris Institute of Political Science, and later earned master's degrees in public administration from Harvard University, and in national security studies and strategies from the Naval War College, graduating with highest distinction.

In addition to his many other commanding officer duties aboard ships, Shuford's assignments have taken him to Washington, D.C., as a speechwriter to the Office of the Secretary of the Navy; commander of the USS Gettysburg, including prominent roles during the Kosovo crisis and in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Desert Fox; and division chief in the Force Structure, Resources and Assessments Directorate of the Joint Staff.

Participating in the April 30 review will be the three OSU campus commanders, Capt. Gary Klink, of the U.S. Navy; Col. Mark Overholtzer, U.S. Air Force; and Lt. Col. R. Keith Lembke, U.S. Army.

Special awards to top students will be presented. These include:

• Navy/Marine Corps

  Navy League Award (outstanding senior) - Officer Candidate Sidney Morrison
  Junior Class Award - Officer Candidate Paul Pavelin
  Sophomore Class Award - Midshipman 3/C Patrick Kiefer
  Freshman Class Award - Midshipman 4/C Michael Williams

   

• Army ROTC

  Military Science IV Award - Cadet Adam Lullay
  Military Science III Award - Cadet Jesse Allgeyer
  Military Science II Award - Cadet Mathew Ellinger
  Military Science I Award - Cadet Samantha Barker

   

• Air Force ROTC

  Senior Class Award - Cadet Jonathan Bowe
  Junior Class Award - Cadet Ryan Barton
  Sophomore Class Award - Cadet Asa Yraguen
  Freshman Class Award - Cadet Tyler Awakuni