CNY Native, Alumna of Oriskany High School and Syracuse University, and First Woman to command the U.S. Army Cadet Command, to speak at SU ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
Major General Peggy C. Combs, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox, Kentucky, will deliver the keynote address and administer the oath of office to 20 cadets from the Army and Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at the 2015 Commissioning Ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2015. The ceremony will begin at 5 p.m., and be held in Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University campus.
Major General Combs is a native of Central New York, having graduated from Oriskany High School in 1981. She received the Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Syracuse University in 1985, is a distinguished military graduate of Syracuse University’s ROTC, and was commissioned as a Regular Army Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Chemical Corps.
Major General Combs’s assignments include being the Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Operations Officer for United States Central Command (CENTCOM) during Operation Enduring Freedom, as the Chief of Staff for the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission, United States Forces-Iraq duty at the National Ground Intelligence Center, and Chief of the Full Dimension Protection Division for the US Army Pentagon. She most recently served as the 27th Chief of Chemical and Commandant, US Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. From 21 May to 27 August 2013, Major General Combs simultaneously served as the Commanding General, US Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, Fort Jackson, South Carolina. On 6 March 2014, Major General Combs assumed command of the US Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox, Kentucky. Visit http://www.cadetcommand.army.mil/commanding-general.aspx for a complete biography.
Twenty cadets from five local colleges will be commissioned as officers in the Army and Air Force at the 2015 Commissioning Ceremony. Syracuse University is the host institution for Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC. Students from the following institutions may enroll in Army ROTC at Syracuse: Cazenovia College, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Le Moyne College, Morrisville State College, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and Utica College. Students from the following institutions may enroll in AFROTC at Syracuse: Cazenovia College, Columbia College, Hamilton College, Le Moyne College, Mohawk Valley Community College, Morrisville State College, Onondaga Community College, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and Utica College.
The Syracuse University Army ROTC unit was established in spring 1919. Following World War II, Syracuse was one of the original 77 universities to house an Air ROTC unit starting in fall 1946. With the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate service in 1947, it became known as Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC).
About the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs:
The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA) serves as Syracuse University’s single point of entry for all veteran and military related programs and initiatives. Committed to being the “Best Place for Veterans,” OVMA assists university stakeholders to support and empower veteran, military connected, and military family member students and employees who are veterans at Syracuse University.
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Media Contact:
Wayne Westervelt
Director of Communications
Office of Veteran and Military Affairs
(315) 4435690