ROTC Yellow Jacket Battalion Members Commissioned as U.S. Army Officers

12/18/2014

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Contact: Kimberly Osborne
(304) 766-3363
kosborne@wvstateu.edu
 
   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Two members of West Virginia State University’s (WVSU) U.S. Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Yellow Jacket Battalion were commissioned United States Army Second Lieutenants on Friday, Dec. 12, during a ceremony at the state capitol building. 

Rashawn Terwilinger and Gregory Hott were both promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant and will serve in the West Virginia Army National Guard.

The ceremony included a formal oath of office, administered by WVSU Professor of Military Science Lt. Col. Derrick Spears, and a “First Salute,” where the new officers received their first salute from an enlisted soldier. 

Terwilinger’s rank was pinned on him by his mother, Robin, and brother, Justin, who is also a soldier.  Terwilinger will serve as a Military Police Officer in the 863rd Military Police Company of the West Virginia Army National Guard.  Terwilinger is a December graduate of WVSU with a degree in Criminal Justice.

Hott’s rank was pinned on him by his father, Bradley.  Hott will serve as an Armor Officer in the 1st Squadron, 150th Cavalry Regiment of the West Virginia Army National Guard.  Hott is a graduate of Glenville State College with a degree in Criminal Justice.

Both Terwilinger and Hott earned their commissions through WVSU’s Army ROTC Program.  Army ROTC is a program of instruction that allows students to become officers in the Army, Army National Guard or Army Reserves while simultaneously pursuing a college degree. 

The Yellow Jacket Battalion at West Virginia State University features students from WVSU, the University of Charleston, Glenville State College and the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

For more information about WVSU’s ROTC Program, call (304) 766-3295 or email wkinsey@wvstateu.edu.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.