I’d like to thank Lieutenant Ben Van Meter for bringing Colton Crawford’s recent promotion to Major in the Military Science Department to our attention. This is a significant accomplishment for any Captain, as more than a third of them do not make it to the rank of Major and it often takes ten competitive years to accomplish. Crawford has been assigned to our Military Science Department for three years now. Major Crawford was previously assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and the famed 75th Ranger Regiment.

With this promotion, Colton leaves the ranks of company grade officers (2nd Lieutenants, 1st Lieutenants, Captains) to become a field grade officer (Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, Colonels), who will have much greater levels of responsibility and expectations. Majors are the work horses of the officer ranks; their youthful vigor is paired with experience and maturity. Higher level commanders make decisions, but units move, operate, and find success based on the work of Majors.

Colton will now wear a gold oak leaf to represent his rank as Major. As far back as the Roman Empire, the oak leaf has represented authority and service to the state. The oak tree is the U.S. national tree, symbolizing that something of great and enduring strength can come from the humble acorn.

Congratulations, Major Crawford. You will be an inspiration for the cadets in our Reserve Officer Training Corps program and another example of the great faculty that we have in CAHSS and EWU.

Rob Friedman
Interim Dean
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

On December 13, 2019, the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion conducted its Fall Commissioning Ceremony. The ceremony was held in the historic Showalter Hall auditorium on the beautiful EWU campus.  The path to this day was not an easy one for the commissioned. All the Cadets conducted up to 4 years of military training in the ROTC program, had to meet rigorous academic requirements, build strong physical fitness, pass the 37-day long ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, among a host of other challenging requirements before they could commission as a Second Lieutenant (2LT) in the U.S. Army.

Captain Levi Floeter is a 2008 EWU graduate earned his officer commission through the university’s ROTC program.  Captain Floeter branched into the Infantry and has had a successful career that included serving as an Army Ranger. While leading a successful Army career Captain Floeter even found time to publish a book, the “New Army Officer’s Survival Guide: Cadet to Commission Through Command.”

From October 19-20, 2018 Cadets from the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program competed in the regional Ranger Challenge competition held at Ft. Harrison located just outside of Helena, Montana.

This year’s Ranger Challenge featured 11 complex and physically challenging events such as rock climbing walls, obstacles courses, nighttime land navigation, and stress shoots.  The EWU ROTC team placed 1st in four of the events.  The first event they placed first in was the Tactical Combat Casualty Carry.  This event had the Cadets move tactically and search for the entrance to a tunnel complex.