Over 100 members of Harvard Business School gathered at Cambridge Common on the sunny afternoon of October 6 to commemorate the promotion of Joseph Ewers (OE) to the rank of Major in the United States Army.
Joe attends HBS as an active duty Army officer. Upon graduation next summer, he will be assigned as a leadership instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY. Joe’s promotion represents a significant career milestone in an Army career spanning 16 years. Joe entered the Army as an enlisted soldier and served in Operation Desert Storm, the first Persian Gulf conflict. He went on to attend West Point and to be commissioned as an officer in the Army. Before attending HBS, Joe most recently served as an Infantry Company Commander in Iraq.
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Jones, Joe’s Battalion Commander in Iraq, traveled to Boston from his current posting in Washington, D.C., to officiate the ceremony. LTC Jones described Joe as his finest Company Commander in Iraq and also highlighted the significant contributions Joe’s wife, Sandy, made to alleviate the hardship felt by other Army families during the Battalion’s 15-month deployment to Iraq. Joe’s new orders were then read and he was symbolically “pinned” with his new rank insignia by Sandy and his father in law, Zdenko Pavlovic. At Joe’s request, he restated his Oath of Office as an officer in the U.S. Army, and reaffirmed his commitment to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The historic Cambridge Common served as a fitting venue for the ceremony, as it is the birthplace of the first military force of the United States. As the struggle for American Independence ensued in the spring of 1775, men from New England gathered in Cambridge and began forming an organized militia. Ultimately, this gathering became the First Continental Army, of which George Washington first assumed command in July 1775 at Cambridge Common.
Among those gathered to commemorate Joe’s promotion were numerous members of the Armed Forces Alumni Association and Section OE, as well as Ewers’ family and friends.
U.S. military personnel are well represented at HBS, as four members of the Class of 2007 continue to serve on active duty in the Army, Navy and Coast Guard while attending HBS through military fellowship programs such as Joe’s. Additionally, there are nearly 100 former members of the U.S. Armed Forces in the student body. As we commemorate Veteran’s Day Saturday, November 11, please remember those who have served before us to whom we should all be thankful.