Graduating with honor

Second Lt. Bradley D. Brown, U.S. Army, is congratulated after being commissioned in Mizzou Arena on Sunday. Brown’s first assignment is to Germany, where he will serve as an armor officer.   ¦  ALEX LEWIS

Forty-five officers from the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine Corps were commissioned in Mizzou Arena on Sunday in a ceremony marking the official beginning to each new officer’s career. From that point forward, they have legal authority under the president and are confirmed in their office by the Congress of the United States.

During the ceremony, each officer was administered the “Oath of Office,” which reads:

“I, (name), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.”