K-State Army ROTC cadets rank high on order of merit list

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Source: Lt. Col. George Belin, 785-532-6754, gbelin@k-state.edu
Editor's note: Elizabeth Hill is a graduate of Manhattan High School.
News release prepared by: Levi Wolters, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

K-STATE ARMY ROTC CADETS RANK HIGH ON ORDER OF MERIT LIST

MANHATTAN -- Two Kansas State University Army ROTC cadets are in the top 1 percent of the nation's 3,806 cadets who will commission this year from the 272 Army ROTC programs across the country. Commissioning is the process in which cadets, once they graduate from college, are officially appointed as Army officers.

Jonathan Spikes, graduate student in curriculum and instruction, Manhattan, and Elizabeth Hill, senior in history, Riley, both rank in the top 1 percent of the national Order of Merit List. Both also rank in the top five of cadets in the 11th Brigade, which encompasses 19 schools from Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota, and in the top 20 of all cadets in the Western Region -- essentially all ROTC programs west of the Mississippi River.

Hill is the eighth-ranked cadet of all 3,806. She is the highest ranked cadet in Kansas.

"K-State cadets continue to excel nationally due to the high quality men and women who continue to join our program, the hard work of the cadre to prepare them to be lieutenants, and the exceptional support we enjoy from the entire university and community of Manhattan," said Lt. Col. George Belin, professor and head of the department of military science.

Each cadet is judged separately for the list based on academics, leadership and physical fitness. Forty percent of the cadets' points are based on the cadet's cumulative grade point average.

The leadership category is broken down to two evaluations, each worth 22.5 percent of the points. Between the cadets' junior and senior year, they attend a six-week leadership camp at Fort Lewis, Wash., where they receive an evaluation based on their performance at the camp. They also receive numerous evaluations from Belin for their performance on campus.

The remaining 15 percent of the cadets' points come from a swimming test and the Army Physical Fitness Test, which includes push-ups, sit-ups and a two-mile run.