Clarksville, TN – Next week, two members of the Austin Peay State University (APSU) illustrious ROTC program will travel to Fort Knox, Kentucky, to participate in the George C. Marshall Leadership and Awards Seminar.
That ceremony is the capstone leadership development event for U.S. Army Cadet Command, with the seminar recognizing the top cadet from each of the 274 Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (SROTC) programs across the country, along with the top cadets from the U.S. Military Academy.
Governors Guard Cadet Tory Alexander, from Columbus, Georgia, will attend the seminar from Feb. 13-16 as Austin Peay’s top cadet. Alexander is earning a master’s degree in Leadership Science, with a concentration in strategic planning. He is a Green-to-Gold Active Duty Option cadet, having served as a staff sergeant and an Army Practical Nursing Specialist at Fort Campbell.
During the seminar, cadets are exposed to senior Army leadership and participate in roundtable discussions with topics that range from company grade challenges (lieutenant to captain ranks) to the current national security environment. The focus for this event is for the country’s newest generation of leaders to be better informed and prepared to support the Army’s vision at both the tactical and strategic level.
Lt. Col. Mark Barton, APSU professor of military science, was one of only 18 ROTC professors nationwide invited to serve as a small group leader in the seminar’s roundtable discussions and breakout sessions. Barton is in his third year of leading APSU’s Army ROTC program. A field artillery officer, Barton has more than 24 years of active-duty service in the U.S. Army. He has had four combat deployments, three to Afghanistan and one to Iraq. His most recent assignments prior to APSU were at the U.S. Army Pacific headquarters in Hawaii from 2016-2019 and with 1st Infantry Division forward in Poznan, Poland, from 2019-2020. He has been published twice in Army publications and his highest awards are two awards of the Bronze Star and two awards of Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
For more information on Austin Peay State University’s Governors Guard ROTC program, visit https://www.apsu.edu/rotc/.
