Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd '93, deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, spoke to cadets at their commissioning ceremony in McAlister Auditorium May 9, 2025. Photo by Jeremy Fleming.

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The 2025 class of Furman ROTC cadets commissioned into the Army, Army Reserves and National Guard: 2nd Lt. Adara Briceńo, 2nd Lt. Glory Gillen, 2nd Lt. Kendall Littlejohn, 2nd Lt. Max Riith, 2nd Lt. Jack Mikell, 2nd Lt. Luke Stewart and 2nd Lt. Matthew Zagar. Photo by Jeremy Fleming.

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The new second lieutenants, their statuses and their assignments are:

• Adara Briceño, National Guard, field artillery
• Glory Gillen, Army Reserves, military police
• Kendall Littlejohn, Active duty, ordnance
• Jack Mikell, Active duty, infantry
• Max Riith, Active duty, armor
• Luke Stewart, Active duty, ordnance, and
• Matthew Zagar, Active duty, aviation

Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, a 1993 Furman graduate and former Paladin Battalion member, spoke with the future leaders. It was a homecoming of sorts for Rudd; his wife, Ansley Rudd, is a 1991 Furman graduate and their daughter Hayden Rudd graduated from Furman in 2017.

One of the first pieces of advice the general shared was to be open to change. At his graduation, he said he thought he would serve his minimum commitment to the military and settle into a quiet life, perhaps in Greenville, South Carolina.

Rudd’s military service has been anything but “quiet.” After three years he was accepted into the Special Forces. He completed some of the most physically and mentally rigorous specialty training in the military and has commanded at every level. He deployed multiple times into combat operations, including Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn and Operation Inherent Resolve.

Rudd now serves as deputy commander of Indo-Pacific Command, a joint command headquartered in Hawaii that oversees an area of responsibility that includes 60 percent of the world’s population and 38 nations, including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, India, The Philippines and Thailand.

The “geopolitical strategic environment” the new Furman second lieutenants are entering today is “incredibly complex. It’s interconnected,” Rudd said. “Nothing is happening in isolation. It’s incredibly consequential right now given the threats that we’re facing to the homeland. … What’s going to be required of them is strength in the face of adversity.”

Today’s young leaders have to be innovative and prepare to adapt as the world changes, Rudd said. He implored the new officers to “relentlessly strive for excellence” in every aspect of their lives.

Rudd had high praise for his alma mater. “I think Furman University and its approach to education is absolutely critical. It prepared me to be where I am now,” he said. The liberal arts and sciences education “prepares you to be open-minded, to think globally, to think beyond your specialty as a leader. That’s incredibly valuable.”