Two University of Arkansas - Fort Smith students were honored Dec. 10 with a ceremony signaling the end of their participation in the Army ROTC program at UAFS and their commissioning as second lieutenants in the Arkansas Army National Guard.

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets are Winston Thomas Cox and Tuan Minh Pham, both of Fort Smith.

The two took their state oath of office and had family members pin on their gold bars signifying their new rank as second lieutenants during the Dec. 10 ceremony, with UAFS commencement on Dec. 11 the location for the new lieutenants reciting their federal oaths of office and rendering their first salutes.

The cadets, their guests and University officials heard guest speaker Col. Troy Galloway, commander of the 142nd Fires Brigade in Fayetteville, encourage and applaud the efforts that brought the cadets to this point.

“Today is about you,” said Col. Galloway. “Soak it in, enjoy it and celebrate it. But, after you pin on those gold bars and recite the oath, make no mistake. It is about something entirely different. It is about the Army you will serve in. It is about preserving the freedoms of this great nation. It is about fulfilling your commitment to something greater than yourself.”

Col. Galloway told the cadets they were entering “an Army in transition.”

“It is an Army that is struggling to determine what its doctrine, equipment and formations must look like to win the next war,” he told them. “It is an Army that remains in a very tough fight in Afghanistan, battling an insurgency that is very resilient and very adaptable in a country that has known decades of continuous conflict.”

The cadets were told to focus on their roles as leaders and problem solvers, “willing to use their education and share their knowledge.” Col. Galloway told the cadets they would be “viewed around the globe as men and women of integrity” who were “willing to help secure the global commons for the betterment of all.”

Col. Galloway went on to praise the soldiers who are sacrificing and serving for freedom today, the soldiers the newly commissioned lieutenants will soon direct.

“I promise you the soldiers that you inherit today are the best trained, best equipped, most highly dedicated and motivated soldiers in our nation’s history,” said Galloway. “In a few minutes you will begin fulfilling your commitment to lead them. I know you are ready. The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and its ROTC program have made you ready.”

Col. Galloway, who is the community development director for the City of Bentonville, began his military career in 1985 when he enlisted in the Missouri Army National Guard as an aircraft weapons specialist. He completed the ROTC program at Missouri State University and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in May 1990. He joined the Arkansas National Guard in 1991 and has distinguished himself in several roles.

Col. Galloway served as the 142nd Fires Brigade Deputy Commander during deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007-08. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 142nd Field Artillery, from June 2008 until July 2010 when he was assigned as a student in the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania. Following graduation from the U.S. Army War College in June 2011, he assumed his current position as Commander of the 142nd Fires Brigade.

Maj. Kevin Cox of Fort Smith, professor of military science at UAFS, called the commissioning “an occasion for celebration” of the dual completion of the cadets’ degrees and the ROTC program.

“Today is the culmination of over four years of preparation by these cadets,” said Cox. “They will carry with them the pride of a strong tradition of excellence from this institution and the courage to adapt to an ever-changing world. And we, the staff at the UAFS Army ROTC, know they are ready.”

Cox is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership. Pham’s bachelor’s degree is in criminal justice.

Pinning on Cox’s bars were his father, Thomas Cox, and Winston Cox’s girlfriend, Sarah Mazaheri. Doing the honors for Pham were uncle Bang Nguyen and Mrs. Bao Bui, Pham’s mother.