Lindsay France/University Photography

Nicholas Cox '12 celebrates being commissioned into the Air Force after receiving the oath from his father, retired Col. Francis Cox, during the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony in Statler Hall May 26.

Lindsay France/University Photography

Newly commissioned ROTC graduates cut their cake in Statler Hall, May 26.

This is serious business: When graduates completing four years of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) classes are commissioned as military officers, there is no mass raising of hands and reciting the oath. "Commissioning is very personal," said Capt. Daniel Weed, professor of military science and commander of Cornell Naval ROTC.

So at the commissioning ceremony May 26 in Statler Auditorium, the seven Army, six Navy and four Air Force candidates came on stage one at a time to take the oath of office and receive their insignia of rank, with assistance from family and friends, amid cheers, applause and a lot of picture-taking from the audience. Due to a scheduling conflict, one Marine Corps officer was commissioned at an earlier ceremony.

To set the tone, the event opened with the Cornell Glee Club singing stirring renditions of the national anthem and "America the Beautiful."

In opening remarks, Weed recalled how his own 30 years of service have taken him all over the world. "You will have grand times in places you never expected to be," he promised, but reminded the graduates that their goal was service to the nation and its people, and especially to those under their command. The United States has the most powerful military force not only in the world but in the entire history of mankind, he said, but our power is not in hardware and software.

"Our business is people," he said. "We have trained you for success."

Then each candidate was called to the stage to take the oath, swearing to protect and defend the nation and its Constitution "with true faith and allegiance." Most were administered the oath by a member of the ROTC faculty, but career military families were in evidence. Nicholas Cox, who is heading off for pilot training in Columbus, Miss., was sworn in by his father, retired Air Force Col. Francis Cox. James Voter was sworn in by his uncle James Voter, a retired Navy captain.

Following the oath, insignia of rank were pinned onto the previously bare ROTC uniforms by the candidates' parents, siblings and in one case, a fiancé. There was much bending of knees to allow mothers and sisters to reach the shoulders.

Then came the tradition of the first salute. A new officer is expected to present a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who offers a salute. For the Statler Hall ceremony, noncommissioned officers selected by the candidates stepped out and saluted the new officers, shook hands and received their coins, usually in an almost hidden left-handed maneuver after the handshake.

The ceremony concluded with a reading of a formal proclamation from the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force, conferring the new commissions in the name of the president.