UAPB COMMISSIONED OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION



UAPB COMMISSIONED OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION

NEWS & NOTES

April 2010

ANNUAL MEETING:  The annual meeting of the UAPB Commissioned Officers’ Association will be held in the Conference Room of Childress Hall (old library) at 1500 hours, Central Standard Time, on April 24, 2010. We will provide a status report on the Golden Lion Battalion and the Association’s planned activities for next year.

WELCOME NEW Professor of Military Science, LTC Tommie L. Walker: We are proud to announce LTC Tommie L. Walker has joined the UAPB Family as Professor of Military Science. He brings with him a commitment to excellence and a vision for the future. He was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, the son of Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Walker (both deceased). He was raised in Hollis, Oklahoma and graduated from Hollis High School in 1985. Following high school graduation, LTC Walker earned a football scholarship and played at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma where he was a member of the 1987 (NAIA Division I) National Championship Football Team. In 1989, LTC Walker attended ROTC basic camp (Leaders’ Training Course-(LTC)) and earned a two-year ROTC Scholarship. In 1991, he graduated from Cameron University’s ROTC program as a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education, a Bachelor of Art in History and a minor in Military Science. Upon graduation from Cameron University in 1991, LTC Walker received an Active Duty Army commission to Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery.

LTC Walker attended the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course (Fort Sill, OK), Airborne School (Fort Benning, GA), Field Artillery Advanced Course (Fort Sill, OK), Army Inspector General Course (Fort Belvoir, VA), CAS3 (Fort Leavenworth, KS), and the Automation Officer Course (Fort Gordon, GA). LTC Walker is a graduate of the Combined Arms and Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and has earned a Master’s Degree in Computer Resources and Information Management.

His assignments include Germany: 3/11 ACR (Howitzer Battery Fire Direction Officer and Platoon Leader), 5th Corps Artillery (Battery XO and Targeting Officer); Fort Sill, OK: 212th FA BDE (BDE Assistant S3), 2-17 FA BN (Battery Commander), 2-5 FA BN (Battery Commander), Fort Sill Inspector General (Deputy IG); Fort Leavenworth, KS: Center for Army Lessons Learned (Automation Officer and Chief of Networks Branch); Korea: 2ID (Deputy Chief of Operations), Fort Riley, KS: 1BDE, 1ID (BDE Fire Support Officer, Combat Tour IRAQ) , 1-5 FA (BN S3 and XO), 1ID (Chief of Operations), 2HBCT, 1 ID Fire Support Coordinator (FSCOORD), Combat Tour IRAQ) and now the Professor of Military Science at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff (UAPB).

LTC Walker's power point presentation entitled “Where Do You Stand” is attached to this email. Please email tvaughn449@ if you cannot open the attachment.

21 March 2010

SUBJECT: Update to Last Year’s Status of the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

1. Purpose: To provide members of the UAPB Commissioned Officers’ Association an update/current status of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB).

2. Discussion: “The only constant is change.”

Last year LTC Telfare, my predecessor, accurately detailed one of the major challenges facing our UAPB ROTC program (making commission mission) when he stated that “The ROTC program here at UAPB is duty-bound by the U.S. Army to commission a minimum of “Nine” Second Lieutenants per year. Commissioning nine lieutenants is referred to as our “Commission Mission. We, the ROTC program at UAPB, have not met our Commission Mission since 2002. Since we have not met our Commission Mission in over seven years, this year our Commission Mission decreased to “Eight.” Our Commission Mission continues to decrease by one over the next two years until School Year 2011 (SY 11). In SY 11, the Commission Mission is “Six” and remains at six for the foreseeable future. The decrease in Commission Mission is based off three or more years of failing to meet mission. Now with the decrease mission resources are cut or redistributed to those making or exceeding commission missions. This year, Cadet Command has removed a contractor position from my roster and decremented my budget by 9%.”

The information in the paragraph above was last year and while most of the “Commission Mission” information remains unchanged, the sentence that projected out to SY11 and beyond (“In SY11 the Commission Mission is “Six” and remains at six for the foreseeable future.”) did not.

Our Commission Mission for SY11 is nine (9) opposed to six (6). Our increased commission mission is a result of a new requirement for Cadet Command to commission against National Guard (NG) and Reserve (R) forecasted officer needs. This change creates numerous concerns; the most important in my opinion, being most Cadets enter the ROTC program to earn an AD commission. We all know that not everyone will earn an AD commission and from that perspective, the NG and R components of our new mission set may self-correct and take care of themselves. Nevertheless, this mission change forces us to address two major concerns:

First, now we have to manage and recruit against three mission sets (Active Duty (AD), NG, and R). The breakdown for our SY11 commission mission is six AD, two NG and one R.

Second, it means that we must become more precise in our recruiting efforts and do a better job of managing our Cadets’ commissioning expectations.

Like all things in Cadet Command, this requirement is subject to change based on the needs of the Army.

The chart below illustrates current commission requirements and projected commissioning goals out to Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. Note that this chart does not depict the NG and R commissioning mission numbers, those numbers are included in the overall “Cmsn Msn” column. Also, note the Nurse Mission columns. Although our charter identifies no Nursing mission requirement, we currently have six nurses in our program (MS I to MS IV). If we meet our projected commission numbers over the next two years, I except to see our commission mission numbers migrate back to a FY 08 or FY 09 requirement. As indicated in the chart below, we currently project to meet our commission mission in the following years: FY11-FY13.

|Commission Data |

|Fiscal |Cmsn |Cmsns/ | |Nurse |Nurse |

|YR |Msn |Projected |Diff |Msn |Cmsns |

| | | | | | |

|FY05 |9 |5 |-4 |0 |0 |

|FY06 |9 |3 |-6 |0 |0 |

|FY07 |9 |4 |-5 |0 |0 |

|FY08 |9 |2 |-7 |0 |0 |

|FY09 |8 |4 |-4 |0 |0 |

|FY10 |7 |6 |-1 |0 |1 |

|FY11 |9 |10 |1 |0 |1 |

|FY12 |6 |10 |4 |0 |2 |

|FY13 |6 |8 |2 |0 |2 |

However, our progression rates over the past few years have remained below the Cadet Command average. Therefore, it is imperative that we establish and maintain a strong recruiting and retention program. See the illustration below:

|Progression Rates% |3-Year |1-Year |

|  |Unit |CC |Unit |CC |

|MSL I to MSL II: |30.0% |40 |33.3% |41 |

|MSL II to MSL III: |28.8% |46 |18.8% |47 |

|MSL III to MSL IV: |58.3% |87 |50.0% |87 |

|MSL IV to Cmsn: |75.0% |72 |80.0% |72 |

|MSL IV, V, VI, C Retain: |0.0% |22 |0.0% |22 |

We continue to make progress toward improving our overall progression rate percentages. I will address our progression rate effort “bottom up” starting with our MS VI.

This semester we have one MS VI scheduled to attend the Leader’s Development Assessment Course (LDAC). This is the new name for the old “Advance Camp.” This Cadet endured an injury last year at camp, came back to complete her MSIV ROTC requirements and graduated last spring 2009. She has proven to be a true warrior and is dedicated to finishing what she started. Pending a medical determination, we anticipate her attending LDAC this summer and upon completion of that training, she will commission at the end of camp.

We have one MS V set to commission as a Second Lieutenant Army Nurse in MAY 10. This Cadet is enrolled in our partnership school down at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM), but as you may or may not know, all of our (UAPB and UAM) program efforts reflect upon the Golden Lion Battalion. The UAM has great potential and now that we have a full time presence at that university, I anticipate our commissioning rate to increase over next few years.

We have two Cadets set to commission MAY 10 from UAPB. One will commission AD, Combat Service Support, Adjutant General Corps and the other will commission R, Combat service Support, Medical Corps.

We have one MS IV on track to commission upon completion of the second summer session in AUG 10. He will commission AD, Combat Arms, Armor Corps.

We have two MS IVs scheduled to attend LDAC from UAM. One will be an end of camp commission and the other he will become an MSV. He will complete the accessions process and migrate to mission set 11.

We have 12 MS III on track to attend LDAC this summer. Overall, the class looks good. There are a couple of medical concerns that we are working through and there is about four MS IVs that will have to bust their butts in order to get their PT and or weight to standard in the next couple of months, if they truly want to attend LDAC and do well.

This semester’s MS I and MS II classes have strong leadership potential and appear ready to accept the challenge of “Never Leaving a Fallen Comrade.” I am excited about the potential of these two cohorts (MS Is and IIs) as they relate to our progression rate challenge.

3. Future Projections:

a. Cadet Command allocates a certain number of scholarships to all ROTC programs to aid the programs in making their commission mission, the number of scholarships correlate to the commission mission goal. For example, last year’s incoming freshmen will graduate in May 2013. Our Commission Mission for SY 12/13 is six. Therefore, for SY 09/10, Cadet Command allocated six scholarships for UAPB ROTC.

b. As indicated by the “Commission Data” chart above (see paragraph 2. a. 2)) our commission mission, with exception to FY11, will continue to decrease over the next four years. As a result of this commission mission decrease, the number of Cadet Command allocated Scholarships will decrease accordingly—last year we received six, four (4) year Cadet Command Scholarships. This year, we will only receive four.

c. Based off our current enrollment numbers and progression rate, I project that we will not meet our SY10 commission mission. However, even with the mission increase in FY11, I project that we will exceed our commission mission for FY11 through FY 13.

d. The following chart illustrates our current active enrollment data.

|Current Enrollment Data |

|School Year |FY 10 |FY 11 |FY 12 |FY 13 |TOTAL |

|Contract |8 |12 |14 |2 |36 |

|Pending Contract |0 |0 |6 |4 |10 |

|Participating |0 |2 |10 |28 |40 |

|Total Enrolled |8 |14 |30 |34 |86 |

e. The chart above depicts our active enrollment data. There are actually 98 Cadets enrolled in the Golden Lion Battalion, which consist of UAPB and UAM. I did not count Cadets who are pending disenrollment in these figures. Additionally, I did not count two Cadets who are pending disenrollment; that I have elected to bring back into the program—upon their return to UAPB in fall 10.

4. UAPB Commissioned Officers’ Scholarship Recipients: Cadet Silas Owens, Cadet Dexter Williams and Cadet Shannaya Williams (no relation to Dexter Williams) are all doing fine. I will provide a brief snapshot of where they stand in their respective classes, where they need work, my concerns and their standing on the Order of Merit List (OML).

a. Cadet Silas Owens shows good potential. He needs to work on PT and he has to get his GPA up. While his current GPA is above 2.00, with the changes coming down from Cadet Command regarding the NG and R commission mission requirements, I believe that anyone with a GPA below 3.00 is at significant risk of not receiving an AD commission. As an MS I Cadet Silas has time to get his GPA up. With a Criminal Justice Major, he will need to graduate with a 3.00 or above or he will find himself at risk of earning an AD commission. Cadet Owens is center mass on my OML for MS Is.

b. Cadet Dexter Williams has unlimited potential. He is a natural leader capable of accomplishing anything he sets his mind to doing. He maintains a GPA of above 2.5 and he is a Business major, but just like Cadet Owens listed above, he needs to get his GPA up over 3.00 or he will find himself at risk of not receiving an AD commission. Cadet Williams’ PT performance is solid; it has the potential to be exceptional, as does he. Cadet Williams is currently #4 of 32 MS II cadets, but from a potential perspective, he is the #1 MS II Cadet in a very strong top five cohort. It will be interesting to watch this young man mature into an officer and see how his leadership potential plays out against the three MS IIs that currently hold the 1-3 OML slots

c. Cadet Shannaya Williams is the #1 female cadet in the MS II class and she is the overall #3 MS II Cadet out of 32. She maintains about a 270 PT average. Her GPA is close to 3.00, but not quite there. She needs to get it above 3.00 and I think she will. She is hungry for success and it shows in her actions. She is a Biology major and with the Army putting a strong emphasis on STEM (Science, Technical, Engineering and Mathematics) students, I think Cadet Williams on track to doing very well in ROTC and the Army. Absolutely, unlimited potential.

5. Conclusion: The ROTC program at UAPB continues to make positive strides to meet our commission mission and remain a viable asset to Cadet Command. Evident by the commissioning numbers over the past eight years, this is no easy task. If history proves a reliable reference, we will have to maintain or exceed our commission mission for about three years before Cadet Command will restores or loss resources. Based off the current projections, we can expect the return of these resources by SY 14. With increased resources and intense focus on contract mission, we can expect our commission mission to increase in the out years. Meanwhile, in order to meet that anticipated increase, we must sustain our growth and always strive to exceed our mission because “life” happens and everyone we predict to complete the course will not. We must maximize every resource we can garner and leverage all available assets against our mission sets in order to ensure the future of our program and provide our Cadets/UAPB students the training they will need to compete and be successful in our Army. I look forward to taking on this venture with each of you.

6. Point of contact for this memorandum is LTC Tommie L. Walker 870-575-8445 or walkert@uapb.edu.

//Original Signed//

TOMMIE L. WALKER

LTC, FA

Professor of Military Science

Coming Home! On 25 April 2010 our very own Brigadier General, Aundre F. Piggee will be the keynote speaker for the 2010 UAPB Founders’ Day Program to be held at 3 p.m., April 25, 2010, in the Isaac Hathaway Fine Arts Center at UAPB. Please share this information with your friends and relatives who are able to attend. Below is a press release recounting BG Piggee's career.

BG Aundre Piggee

Assistant Chief of Staff, J-4

Deputy Chief of Staff, C-4

United States Forces Korea

Brigadier General Aundre F. Piggee is a Native of Stamps, Arkansas and commissioned into the United States Army in 1981 from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff where he graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. He has a Master of Science Degree in Material Acquisition Management from Florida Institute of Technology and a Masters Degree in Military Strategy from the Army War College.

His military education includes the Quartermaster Officer Basic Course, the Ordnance Officer Advance Course, Combined Arms Staff Services School, the Logistics Executive Development Course, the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College.

General Piggee’s initial assignment was Fort Carson, Colorado where he served as Maintenance Platoon Leader, Shop Officer and Battalion S-4 for the 704th Maintenance Battalion. Other assignments include Maintenance Officer for the 85th Maintenance Battalion, Hanau Germany; Commander, 77th Maintenance Company in Babenhasen Germany; Maintenance Officer, 16th Corps Support Group, Hanau Germany; Logistics Operations Officer, Chief, Executive Services Office and Chief, Leader Development Branch, Combined Arms Support Command, Fort Lee, Virginia; G-3 Plans Officer, 13th Corps Support Command and Support Operation Officer, 544th Maintenance, Fort Hood, Texas; Auditor, Department of Defense Inspector General’s Office, Alexandria, Virginia; Commander, 15th Forward Support Battalion and Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

From February through November 1999, General Piggee deployed with the 15th Forward Support Battalion where he commanded the Logistics Task Force in support of the Multi-National Division North for Stabilization Forces 4. From July 2002 to July 2004, he served as Chief, Support Operation Division, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, 8th U.S. Army, Seoul, South Korea. He then served as the Commander, 1st Cavalry Division Rear Detachment, Fort Hood, Texas from July 2004 to April 2005 while the Division was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. General Piggee was the 1st Cavalry Division’s Chief of Staff from April – July 2005. He commanded the 15th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, from July 2005 to February 2008 with 15 months deployed in OIF. His last assignment was Executive Officer for the Vice Chief of Staff, Army from June 2008 to September 2009. In August 2009, General Piggee assumed the duties of the United States Forces Korea, Assistant Chief of Staff J4.

 

General Piggee's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit (2 OLC), the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal (3 OLC), Army Commendation Medal (4 OLC), the Army Achievement Medal (3 OLC), the Korea Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Army Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon. He wears the Department of Defense and Army Staff Identification Badges.

General Piggee is married to the former Kassi Marie Gideon of Killeen, Texas. They have one daughter, Alexis.

Future Meeting – Homecoming 2010

Please plan to attend the membership meeting on Friday, November 5, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. This date is the Friday before the Homecoming Game. The location will be announced at a later date or contact the ROTC Department for information.

Appeal for Scholarship Pledges, Donations and Annual Membership Dues

Continued support of the Association’s Scholarship Fund is critical.  Scholarship donations are fully tax deductible.  Your donations qualify as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.  If you have not paid your 2010 membership dues of $50.00, please do so at the earliest opportunity. Your dues enables to organization to support the University and the ROTC Program.

Please make your donation and dues checks payable to the UAPB Commissioned Officers’ Association and mail to P.O. Box 151421, Alexandria, VA 22315.

Grover L. Gibson, LTC (Ret.) President, Board of Directors

CALL FOR EMAIL ADDRESSES: If you know UAPB ROTC alumni who are not receiving a copy of this email please forward it to them and send their email address to the address listed below:

PLEASE SEND NEWS ITEMS AND CORRECTIONS TO TVAUGHN449@

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