Army ROTC Sets First ‘Dining Out’ in 30 Years at TAMIU

The U.S. Army Reserve Officers Training Corps at Texas A&M International University and the Javelina Battalion Corps of Cadets will celebrate the conclusion of the 2007-2008 school year by taking part in a Military Dining Out. The event will take place Friday, April 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the TAMIU Western Hemispheric Trade Center, room 111. The event is by invitation only.

The Military Dining Out is an opportunity for cadets, in their formal military uniforms, to participate in a military tradition that dates back to times of the Roman army. Cadets will gather for a formal dinner and enjoy the company of their dates, ROTC cadre and invited guests. The Military Dining Out follows a unique procedure founded on military history, customs and courtesies.

This formal event is of historical importance to the Senior Army ROTC Program in Laredo, as it has been 30 years since such an event has taken place. Among invited guests are former professor of Military Sciences for the ROTC Program at Laredo State University, now TAMIU, and retired military officer, Jose García, Vice President of Finance at TAMIU. Guest speaker, Gerald Schwebel, Executive Vice-President of the International Bank of Commerce, is a retired military officer who received his U.S. Army commission at the LSU program.

After a 30-year absence, the Reserve Officer Training Program was re-established in Laredo in August of 2003 as a part of the “Javelina Battalion.” Established at TAMIU in a joint venture with Laredo Community College, the Program commissioned its first Army officer in May 2005 and has since commissioned 10 currently serving Army leaders.

Reserve Officer Training began in 1951 in South Texas at Texas A&I University, now Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The program expanded to LSU and continued to train military officers though the fall of 1973.

Organizers note that throughout the years, the Army ROTC at the University level has seen many changes, but the mission remains the same, “To develop the future leaders of the United States Army.”

For more information, please contact First Lieutenant Alfredo Cavazos, Recruiting Operations Officer for Military Science, at 326.3011 or e-mail acavazos@tamiu.edu

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu