Charleston MOAA Chapter

The Citadel

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Citadel Awards Ceremony

Two words sum up the Awards Ceremony at the Citadel – Military Precision

First observed change was that it started on time. The announcement that all applause was to be with held until the final presentations were complete has been tried at other schools but, as expected here, the presentations proceeded in complete silence until the end.

Also appreciated was that awards given by organizations whose presenter couldn’t attend were given at the beginning by the Citadel ROTC staff. That procedure reduced the total time involved as well as gave the new guys, like me, knowledge of what was expected when it was my turn.

The staff presentations were, as expected at the Citadel, very formal, very military, and extremely well timed. The presenter was announced, the reason for the award read, the cadet/midshipman was called forward just as another of their cadre brought the award to the presenter. Presentation given, presenter and recipient quickly faced the camera man, click. next man.

When MOAA awards were called, I took the time to shake each mans hand, offer congratulations, make some remark about a grip and grin event, and wished each cadet good luck.

Steve Rowe was a welcome addition as he took several photos of our portion.

Also surprised when, after the event concluded, all four cadets:

Midshipman Scott Taylor, Navy / Midshipman Miller Dial, Marine Corps

Cadet John Hope, Army / Cadet Austin Brown, Air Force

tracked me down for a pleasant social chat.

There were 120 total awards given and the entire ceremony took less than an hour. I did manage to find a parking spot near the front entrance and that - happily - led to reduced rain exposure.

A very pleasant experience and would recommend the visit to all that would be interested.

Al Smith

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Charleston MOAA Chapter