Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) observed the commissioning of seven University of Michigan Navy ROTC midshipmen and Marines as Naval officers during a ceremony in the League Ballroom on campus, Dec. 18.

The five NROTC midshipmen and two Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) Marines were recognized by their Commanding Officer, Capt. Joseph Evans, during the ceremony. The newly commissioned officers will serve around the globe in a variety of military occupational specialties including aviation, surface warfare, submarine warfare, and the Marines.

"I am very happy today," said Capt. Joseph Evans, Professor of Naval Science (PNS) and commanding officer of the unit. "Our newly commissioned ensigns and second lieutenants are embarking on an exciting profession of service, sacrifice and commitment. Nothing much beats being a part of a commissioning ceremony and listening to our midshipmen recite the oath of office. It marks a crowning point of 21 years of investment by their parents, mentors, teachers and my staff. I couldn't be more proud of them as they go off to their first duty stations."

Commissioned as ensigns were: Joseph Duggan, 22, from Skaneateles, New York; Aaron Grzegorzewski, 22, from Cincinnati; Travis Johnson, 23, from Aurora, Colorado; Robert Squiers, 22, from Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan; and Edward Young, 22, from Lansing, Michigan. Louis Collins, II, 32, from KawKawlin, Michigan, and Andrew Perkins, 28, from Plymouth, Michigan, were commissioned as a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenants.

Duggan was chosen by his class to be the student speaker. He spoke of class accomplishments, camaraderie, and their future responsibilities. Duggan urged his classmates to remember the continued support they each will receive from family members and loved ones despite the challenges they may face in the future.

"I hope everyone takes away how much support we have received from our families and how much that will continue," said Duggan, who is headed to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL School (BUD/S) as he works to become an officer in the Navy Special Warfare (SEAL) community. "It's not easy having a son, daughter, brother, sister, husband or wife in training or on deployment and how stressful and both sides that can be. So I hope we who were commissioned today remember how much the support from our families can mean."

Young, who was scheduled to head to Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina, said the ceremony was amazing.

"I'm just so excited to finally be an officer and to start my Navy career," Young said. "And I'm ready to finally be able to do my duty and serve the United States."

After the ceremony family and friends congratulated the newly commissioned officers. Many of the parents present described the moment watching their children commission as one of the proudest in their lives.

"I couldn't be more proud," said Sharon Perkins, mother of U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Perkins. "I never thought in a million years he would accomplish so much. He's done more in his life than my husband and I put together."

Evans closed out the ceremony saying each newly commissioned officer will now begin their professional journey and that journey will require each to maintain a strong foundation in the Navy's Core Values.

"They will need to possess an adept ability to pass judgment, to decide what is right and what is wrong, and then, of course, to follow that judgment with appropriate, proportional and moral-based action," Evans said. "In the years to come, we will be expecting much from these young officers, but I will sleep well knowing that these young men will be standing the watch."

The NROTC program is overseen by Evans and his NSTC staff at Naval Station Great Lakes. NROTC was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values in order to commission college graduates as Naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the Navy and have a potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development program. NSTC also includes Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp also at Naval Station Great Lakes, the NROTC program at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) Newport, Rhode Island, and Navy Junior ROTC and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NROTC, visit https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.