Ripon’s ROTC unit will commission five, celebrate 100 years

The Fox Valley Battalion of ROTC, of which the Ripon Red Hawks Company is a part, will hold its spring commissioning ceremony at 3 p.m., Friday, May 24, in the field house at Willmore Center. Graduated commissionees will be sworn in as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army.

Those from Ripon College are Nathan Faucett of Marinette, Wisconsin; Aubreigh LaFleur of Ripon, Wisconsin; Justin LaFleur of Belvidere, Illinois; Justin Filter of Janesville, Wisconsin; and Christian Ryan of Caledonia, Wisconsin.

Faucett will report for infantry officer basic course at Ft. Benning, Georgia, Oct. 20.

Aubreigh LaFleur is scheduled for temporary duty at Cadet Summer Training as a basic camp platoon leader. She will then attend Signal Corps basic officer course at Ft. Gordon, Georiga, before being stationed with the 11th Signal Brigade at Ft. Hood, Texas, in February.

Justin LaFleur is scheduled for temporary duty at Cadet Summer Training as a basic camp platoon leader. He will then attend an armor basic officer course at Ft. Benning, Georgia, before being stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas, early next year.

Filter reports to Ft. Lee, Virginia, Nov. 3 for ordnance basic officer course. He will be assigned with the 63rd Ordnance Company at Joint Base Lewis McChord in March 2020.

Ryan has been selected for Wisconsin Army National Guard with the 121st Field Artillery Battalion in Milwaukee. Ryan, however, will be converting to Chaplain Corps and has been accepted to a seminary to continue his studies.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ROTC program at Ripon. A history of the unit, Faith and Courage: The History of the Ripon ROTC Unit. 1919- 1991, was published in 1992. A booklet detailing the unit’s history from 1992 to 2019 was compiled for the 100th anniversary and can be viewed here.

The booklet was written by Faucett under the guidance of William Woolley, professor of history emeritus.

The Fox Valley Battalion is headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Pictured, clockwise from top left, are Nathan Faucett, Justin Filter, Aubreigh LaFleur, Christian Ryan and Justin LaFleur.