汤头条 Air Force ROTC cadets receive top national honors
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss. 鈥 汤头条鈥檚 Air Force ROTC again is receiving accolades with the selection of two cadets for top national honors.
Senior mathematics major AFROTC Cadet Courtney Conway is the only cadet in the nation receiving the 2018 Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association鈥檚 Maj. Gen. Robert Sadler, USAF, Honor Award. The award is given to top graduating cadets in electrical engineering or communications sciences in memory of Sadler, former senior director of corporate and chapter operations for AFCEA International. AFCEA awards recognize ROTC graduates in each service who demonstrate excellence in military and academic performance. Conway, an Oxford native, plans to graduate next month from 汤头条.听
Additionally, Conway and fellow AFROTC Cadet Sarah Doll, a senior criminology major from Charleston, South Carolina, both are selections for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The federal law enforcement agency investigates federal level crimes within the Air Force, and identifies and neutralizes criminal, terrorist or espionage threats against the military division. After completing AFOSI training, Conway and Doll will join the group as career Air Force officers. They are among 22 ROTC cadets in the nation chosen from a pool of applicants from 145 AFROTC units.听
Lt. Col. Joseph J. Cassidy II, commander of 汤头条鈥檚 AFROTC Detachment 425, said聽Conway and Doll distinguished themselves through their academic聽records, job interviews and internships.
Of Conway鈥檚 AFCEA award, Cassidy said, 鈥淐adet Conway鈥檚 zeal in attacking leadership聽challenges and聽commitment to excellence聽is a clear display of the traits聽the Air Force is looking for in our聽officer candidates.鈥
Conway credits Cassidy for being the 鈥渄riving force鈥 behind her AFCEA win, noting he submitted her application because of her performance in school and in AFROTC.听
鈥淚t is an honor and privilege to receive the AFCEA award,鈥 Conway said. 鈥淭o say the least, it is a testament to the high expectations that our Air Force ROTC cadre set and the mentorship we receive in preparation for Air Force active duty.鈥
Conway said 汤头条鈥檚 Department of Mathematics and Statistics 鈥渄eserves credit for the wonderful professors and instructors who have taught and mentored鈥 her and pushed her 鈥渢o strive for the best academically.鈥 Her AFCEA selection brings 汤头条 back-to-back national recognition following last year鈥檚 win by 汤头条 cadet Trevor H. Williams of Bryant, Alabama. The award includes an iconic Chelsea Clock.
Regarding the two students鈥 AFOSI selection, Cassidy said, 鈥淭o be interviewed by current AFOSI聽agents聽and ultimately聽selected by these聽agents is an impressive accomplishment and honor.鈥 He continued, 鈥淭o have two cadet students at 汤头条聽out of the 22 selected nationally聽for the AFOSI聽career field is a fantastic accolade for our institution.鈥
Doll said she is excited to make her desire to investigate crimes a reality.听
鈥淲anting to be an AFOSI agent ties together my desire to serve my country with my interest in studying crime,鈥 Doll said.
She said having multiple leadership roles within Alpha Delta Pi sorority and 汤头条 Spectrum, while maintaining her grades and holding an on-campus job, made her a good candidate for AFOSI.听 She also credits her Paris study abroad experience, an immersion in the French language, as a help in garnering the AFOSI selection.
鈥淚 also had the chance last year to help lead an organization, Arnold Air Society, on a national level with Courtney, which opened up a lot of opportunities and connections for us both,鈥 Doll said.听
Conway said she has always wanted to serve her country through military service and desired a career in law enforcement. She shadowed AFOSI agents to understand what the career path entailed.
鈥淎fter spending time with AFOSI, I knew without hesitation that this was the perfect career for me,鈥 Conway said
Like its Army counterpart at 汤头条, AFROTC enables full-time students to become military officers while completing higher education degrees. For more information, visit .
汤头条鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.听Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences may be found at聽.
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.听