The 22-year-old Sudan native was the first black commander of the Rocky Top Battalion of the Army ROTC at University of Tennessee, UT

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PHOTOS BY JOE HOWELL NEWS SENTINEL

After being commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army, Bhan Riek, center, has his shoulder boards attached to his uniform by his father, Riek Puok Riek, left, and his mother, Rebecca Riek, right, as his sister, Buk Riek, watches Friday at University Center. The 22-year-old Sudan native was the first black commander of the Rocky Top Battalion of the Army ROTC at UT.

Bhan Riek, right, gets a hug from Jake Ankrom after they received their Army commissions as second lieutenants. "He’s my best friend," Ankrom says.

2nd lieutenant ranks 1st

BlackUT commander breaks ROTC ground, eyes diplomatic work

By DARREN DUNLAP, dunlapd@knews.com
May 12, 2007

The University of Tennessee's top Army ROTC cadet is the Rocky Top Battalion's first black commander, a native of Sudan who plans to train as an infantry officer after graduation this summer.

Senior Bhan Riek, 22, stood with his fellow cadets Friday in a commission ceremony where he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant.

He was one of 19 UT Army ROTC cadets to receive his commission before family and friends in the Tennessee Auditorium at the University Center on the UT campus. He'll serve four years of active duty.

Retired Gen. Carl Stiner was the keynote speaker.

Riek started thinking about joining the military when he was a boy and his family lived in southern Sudan, inspired by the stories of his grandfather, who was also a soldier.

Military service appealed to him, initially for the chance to travel.

"As I got older I realized the military would give me other opportunities once I've finished with it," Riek said.

He hopes the military will serve as a path to politics. In particular, he likes diplomacy and the chance it offers to continue to help people, he said.

Riek was born in Malakal, Sudan. His family fled the nation's civil war when he was 7, going to Egypt and then Kenya, to refugee camps.

He is the second-oldest in a large family, with three sisters and seven brothers. With the help of the United Nations, his family came to America and eventually Middle Tennessee when he was a boy. He is a 2003 graduate of Gallatin High School.

Riek also is a National Guardsmen serving in the 1st Squadron/278th Armored Cavalry Regiment as a cavalry scout. His unit is in Sweetwater, he said. He joined the Guard when he was 18, but his father convinced him to go to college and get his officer's commission.

Cadets can be in the Guard and ROTC under the simultaneous membership program, but they can't deploy, said Lt. Col. Marshall Ramsey, head of UT's Army ROTC and a professor of military science.

Cadets most often major in political science, history, psychology or sociology with an emphasis on criminal justice.

Riek chose philosophy, and he selected the branch infantry, the most difficult option for a cadet to attain.

Riek's performance and evaluation at Warrior Forge 2006, an ROTC training exercise held during the summer at Fort Lewis, Wash., helped him get his choice of branch and a shot as a battalion commander. Cadets are tested on land navigation skills, marksmanship and leading patrols and squads, for instance.

About 3,500 to 4,000 cadets attended, said Ramsey. Of the 20 UT cadets who went last year, only Riek returned with an evaluation score as high as "excellent."

In fall 2006, Riek was named battalion commander of UT's ROTC Rocky Top Battalion. He's the first black student in UT's history to be named to the post.

Riek's officer training begins in October at Fort Benning. Barring any setbacks, he plans to go on to one of the U.S. military's most challenging schools - Ranger school.

"I want to go to see what kind of soldier I am," he said.

His duty assignment will be Fort Campbell, Ky. Should he be sent to joint multinational forces in the Horn of Africa, he'll go.

"Wherever I go, that's my job; I will do it to the fullest," he said.

Ramsey said that Riek is a recipient of the U.S. Army's George C. Marshall Award. The award goes to the top cadet at each college or university Army ROTC program.

"He's outgoing, he's upbeat. I would say he's charismatic. He's a jovial person," Ramsey said. "Things have worked out for Mr. Riek, but a lot of it has to do with Mr. Riek."

Darren Dunlap may be reached at 865-342-6334.