Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – A nonprofit is looking to celebrate high school seniors who have enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces and are soon to ship off to basic training in Jonesboro.
Our Community Salutes (OCS) is a nationwide nonprofit that honors high school seniors who plan to enlist in the military immediately after graduation, as well as provides programs, guidance, and resources to enlistees and their families.
This will be the third year in a row that a ceremony has been hosted in Northeast Arkansas. There are also ceremonies held in Little Rock and Fayetteville. Ceremonies are free and open to the public.
During the ceremony, enlistees, who are organized by the service branch they will be entering, will have their names called and be recognized. They will repeat their oath of office and are presented with a challenge coin and a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution. The ceremony will recognize future enlistees from all over Northeast Arkansas.
“It’s pretty neat, and they have a good time. We have a military band, usually, that plays all the service songs. They play each one, and they all stand up and see who can get the loudest,” said retired Col. Clarence “C.H.” Overbay, OCS Northeast Arkansas committee chairman. “That, again, is to honor their commitment.”
Local businesses, schools, and military recruiters, as well as military resources for both the enlistees and their families, are present at the event.
“We want parents, guardians, family members to be a part of this. They’re just as much a part of this as their son or daughter,” said Ryan Bauman, OCS director of community engagement. “There may be some cases where maybe they felt isolated or alone in the process because they had no idea that there were this many other people, other families going through the same journey. And so, it just opens up a whole other world for them.”
The new enlistee ceremony is just one of several services OCS Northeast Arkansas, and the larger nonprofit as a whole, provide. It also provides webinars and education as enlisted servicemembers return home from service through OSC Connect.
OCS was founded in 2009 by Dr. Kenneth Hartman, a former U.S. Army officer who wanted to recognize students enlisting in the military. Since then, the program has grown to be held in 27 states in over 70 communities, with over 130,000 people graduating.
The ceremony is scheduled for April 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Gardens at Harmony, located at 4517 E. Parker Road. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Attendees are asked to register by April 3 and can do so here. The suggested attire for the event is business or business casual.