• For this U.S. Naval commander, service began at Baylor

    U.S. flag flies outside Pat Neff Hall at Baylor

    As part of their retirement, U.S. Navy servicemen and women get to select national monuments and other meaningful landmarks over which their Navy ensign (the U.S. flag) will fly. After the flag has flown over those landmarks, it is returned to the Navy, where it is presented to the retiring service member at his/her retirement ceremony.

    Navy Commander Randall Green, BA ’89, will retire next month after 27 years of honorable naval service. He chose two locations for his Navy ensign to fly: the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, and his alma mater.

    Monday, Green’s ensign flew over campus in Baylor’s Ring of Honor, just outside Pat Neff Hall. (The Ring of Honor recognizes the university’s two Medal of Honor winners and a former Air Force Chief of Chaplains.) Baylor’s Air Force ROTC led a brief ceremony Monday afternoon as the flag was lowered, with remarks from university dignitaries and musical performances by two Baylor students. [Click here for photos from the ceremony.]

    That Commander Green would choose to recognize his alma mater during his retirement ceremony seems appropriate, given that his service to the country began at Baylor. “I joined the Navy at the beginning of my junior year to help pay for school,” he recalls. “It was one of those delayed entry programs that allowed me to finish my degree before I left for Aviation Officer’s Candidate School. Who knew I would stay for 27 years?”

    Sic ’em, Commander Green!