Graduating seniors from GW, Catholic, Howard, Georgetown universities and the University of Maryland were commissioned early Friday morning as either an ensign in the Navy or a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

1.The few, the proud

After a brief invocation, the commanding officer of GW’s NROTC program, Capt. Andrew Cully, asked all active duty service and reserve members as well as veterans of the armed forces to rise for a round of applause.

He noted the small number that did stand and said the newly commissioned officers should not be surprised.

“Less than 1 percent of our nation serves in the military, and you’re about to join that 1 percent,” Cully said. “That’s a small number but I’m going to give you a big number. You now bear 100 percent of the responsibility for protecting this great nation, our way of life and defending our Constitution.”

2. Sacrifice of armed servicemen and women

Maj. Gen. Mark Andrew Brilakis, the commanding general of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, stressed the importance of the commitment the uniformed midshipmen were about to undertake and the incredible sacrifices those before them have already made.

“Ours is a service that requires much,” Brilakis said. “As you stand here today at the start of your journey you inherit a legacy born from a commitment to something so much bigger than any single man or woman, and a dedication of service to America.”

He also called for those in the audience to remember and honor recently deceased midshipman Justin Zemser, who was aboard the Amtrak train that derailed Tuesday in Philadelphia, as well as six Marines and two Nepalese soldiers who died delivering relief supplies after the earthquake in Nepal.

3. A binding oath

The ceremony concluded with all 25 soon-to-be officers solemnly swearing the commissioning oath of the U.S. Navy, an statement which Cully called an oath like no other.

“This commissioning oath commands each officer to pledge loyalty not to a specific group, political party, or way of life,” Cully said. “When it was written, it was the first time in the history of man that an officer pledged his loyalty to a country’s founding document.”

Brilakis elaborated on each section of the oath and expressed his gratitude to all in attendance, before each midshipmen, with a right hand raised to their forehead in salute, was commissioned as an officer.

“In this very special contract between each of you and the people of the United States, we are expended extraordinary trust in our talents, in our judgments and in our fidelity,” Brilakis said. “As members of the armed forces we swear to bear truthfully and allegiance to the ideas and spirit that made this nation, that govern its laws and guide its trajectory into the future.”

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