TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – As part of the Rattler Battalion Army ROTC’s 60th Anniversary, the Florida A&M University (FAMU) Army ROTC will host a black-tie gala “Saluting a 60-Year? Commitment to Excellence” at 6 p.m. at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center on Friday, October 3.
FAMU Army ROTC’s anniversary celebration will be October 2 through October 4 and include a wreath laying, military display and professional development and brick laying ceremony.
Tickets for the gala are $75 and can be purchased online at
https://secure.qgiv.com/cps_donors/index.php?key=famu.
The keynote speaker for the gala will be Brigadier General Arnold Neil Gordon-Bray, Deputy Commanding General of Cadet Command. Gordon-Bray, a native of South Carolina, was commissioned to the infantry as a Distinguished Military Student through the ROTC program at Central Missouri State University in 1978.
He is currently stationed at Fort Monroe, where he was a founding member of Futures Center and Army Capabilities Integration Center (ACIC). Gordon-Bray has been awarded the Expert Infantry Badge, German Master Wings, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and the Saint Maurice and Saint Barbara’s Medals for Infantry and Artillery Excellence, among others.
About FAMU Army ROTC
In 1902, FAMU President Nathan B. Young appointed William H. A. Howard as the first Commandant of Military Activities. The basis for the implementation of military training for the Florida State Normal and Industrial School for Colored Students was the Morrill Act of 1890, which provided funding to land grant institutions. It was not until 1948 that the senior division of the FAMC Army ROTC unit was established under the first professor of Military Science and Tactics Major Clarence Davenport, Jr.
Within the first decade, the initial enrollment number of 278 cadets quickly grew to a cadet corps in excess of 600. During the academic year of 1949-1950, the first 21 cadets were commissioned into the United States Army Reserve.
FAMU Army ROTC graduates have proudly served their country starting in the Korean Conflict and continuing through the current Operation enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi freedom. Many community leaders are affiliated with FAMU Army ROTC including more than 1,200 officers who have been commissioned through this outstanding program. These include five general officers and one former Secretary of Defense cabinet official.
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