[207] Col. Jurgens to Address MTSU Fall Commissioning Ceremony Friday

News and Media Relations contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu
Military science contact: Lt. Col. T.K. Kast, 615-898-2470 or Tharrel.Kast@mtsu.edu


Col. Juergens to address MTSU fall commissioning ceremony Friday

MURFREESBORO — U.S. Army Forces Command, or FORSCOM, inspector general Col. Richard A. “Rich” Juergens will be the guest speaker for the annual fall ROTC commissioning ceremony for the MTSU military science department.

Juergens will speak during the Friday, Dec. 16, ceremony, which will start at 10 a.m. and be held in the Keathley University Center Theater. It is expected to be an even more rewarding visit and experience for Juergens, whose oldest daughter, Elizabeth, will be one of four cadets commissioned into the Army.

Also to be commissioned as second lieutenants will be Lisa Hubert, Kelsey Kirby and Taylor Wall. The ceremony is open to family and friends of the commissionees; MTSU faculty, students and staff; and the general public.

Col. Juergens and his wife, Diana, have been married for more than 25 years, and two of their eight daughters are cadets in the MTSU program. Senior Elizabeth Juergens, a criminal justice major, is a degree candidate for Saturday’s second commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. in Murphy Center. Junior Hannah Juergens is a nursing major. Their other daughters are Mary, Annie, Grace, Katie, Ellie and Olivia.

Before his selection to the FORSCOM post, Juergens served as deputy commander of Brigade Modernization Command. Before that, he was chief of combat plans for the Joint Air component of the Joint Special Operations Command and commanded Joint Task Force Bravo.

Juergens served as a joint officer with U.S. Central Command (Special Operations Command, director of crisis plans and special activities).

A 1985 distinguished military graduate from the University of Delaware, Juergens received a regular Army commission as a second lieutenant in Army Aviation. His assignments include maintenance officer, platoon leader, company executive officer and company commander of the 1/9th Attack Helicopter Battalion; small group instructor and operations officer with the 1st Battalion, 145th Regiment; platoon leader, company commander and battalion operations officer with the 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

Juergens’ combat tours include two deployments to Afghanistan serving as joint special operations aviation commander as well as a tour in Iraq as joint special operations aviation component commander.

He is a graduate of three Army courses, the Command and General Staff College, the Joint and Command Warfighting School and the Joint Advanced Warfighting School.

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