FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock, acting army surgeon general and chief of the Army Nurse Corps, will be the guest speaker during the University of Arkansas Reserve Officers’ Training Corps commissioning ceremony. The event will start at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, in the University of Arkansas School of Law’s E.J. Ball Courtroom.

Because this is the first time the Razorback Brigade ROTC is commissioning a nurse, Pollock’s visit will highlight the milestone. In addition to speaking, Pollock will also administer the military oath of office to nursing graduate, Lisa Hammond of Groesbeck, Texas.

Pollock received a bachelor’s degree in nursing, has earned three master’s degrees and has an honorary doctorate of public service. She has received the Army’s Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with two oak leaf clusters) and the coveted Expert Field Medical Badge. Pollock also received the Army Staff Identification Badge for her work at the Pentagon and earned the German Armed Forces Military Efficiency Badge “Leistungsabzeichen” in gold.

"It is truly an honor and privilege to have the Army's senior medical officer officiate this ceremony. More importantly, as the chief of Army nursing, Maj. Gen. Pollock is here to recognize the fact that the university is producing its first Army nurse through ROTC. This is an important milestone in the long and storied history of the Razorback Brigade," said Lt. Col. Clark Taylor, chairman of the military science and leadership department.

The Razorback Brigade ROTC has been commissioning officers since 1876 and usually has two, sometimes three, ceremonies each year.

In addition to Hammond, four other graduates will be commissioned: Coleman Harris, a music major from Springdale; John Matthews, a mechanical engineering major from Clarksville; Jeremy Hutchinson, a physics major from Bentonville; and Addison Taylor, an agricultural business major from West Fork.

"These five young men and women represent all that is great about Arkansas and the university,” said Taylor. "They have all done a little bit more than most college students and are now beginning the next phase of their life where they will be charged with leading America's sons and daughters during a time of war. They have the education and leadership required to be successful."  

The University of Arkansas Army ROTC combines college electives in military science with practical leadership training to prepare men and women to become Army officers. Upon successful completion of the Army ROTC program and graduation from college, cadets receive a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, the Army Reserve or the Army National Guard.

Two graduates plan to join the Arkansas National Guard, and the other three graduates will enlist in active duty with the U.S. Army.

 The School of Law and the U.S. military share a longstanding history. Silas Hunt, the School of Law’s first black student, was an Army sergeant during World War II, and   Hugh Overholt, a 1957 School of Law graduate, was the judge advocate general of the Army from 1985 to 1989. Many other School of Law alumni have also served honorably in the U.S. military.

“Hosting the ROTC’s commissioning ceremony is an honor for the Law School community. It is a chance for us to strengthen our relationship with the ROTC program, celebrate the achievements of the five graduates and also remember our School of Law alumni who have served in the U.S. military,” Dean Cynthia Nance said.