Advocates Fall Breakfast

Advocates Chair Gresh Lattimore greets Tufts cadets 

Captain Steven M. Benke

Captain Steven M. Benke, Professor of Naval Science at MIT, is in his third year as Commanding Officer of the Boston NROTC Program.

Captain Benke is a native of Jefferson City, Missouri.  He enlisted in the Navy in May 1982 and was selected for the Nuclear Enlisted Commissioning Program where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1987 and his commission at Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island.  He later earned a Master's degree in Astronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

His sea-duty assignments include a division officer tour on USS BREMERTON (SSN 698) and a department head tour as Combat Systems Officer on USS COLUMBUS (SSN 762).  He served as the Submarine Operations Officer and Tomahawk Strike Officer for Commander, CARRIER GROUP SIX where he completed an around the world deployment onboard USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74).  His executive officer tour was on USS JEFFERSON CITY (SSN 759), and his command tour was on USS PENSYLVANIA (SSBN 735)(Gold).

His shore-duty assignments include Emergency Action Officer at the U.S. SPACE COMMAND, Undersea Warfare Officer at Commander, STRIKE FORCE TRAINING PACIFIC, Submarine Force Navigator at Commander, SUBMARINE FORCE ATLANTIC, and Officer-in-Charge, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Detachment Norfolk.  Captain Benke is designated a Joint Qualified Officer, a member of the Navy's Space Cadre, and qualified as an Information Dominance Warfare Officer.

Lieutenant Colonel Karen Dillard

The Advocates welcome Lt. Col. Karen Dillard, who became Commander, Detachment 365, Air Force ROTC in July.  Lt. Col. Dillard has had a distinguished career as a mathematician, educator, and scientific analyst.

Her previous assignments have included Instructor of Mathematics at the Air Force Academy, scientific analyst at the Office of Aerospace Studies, Kirtland AFB, NM, and, after earning her PhD in applied mathematics at North Carolina State, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Deputy Department Head, Mathematics and Statistics at the Air Force Institute of Technology.  Most recently, she served as Deputy Division Chief of the Joint Innovation and Experimentation Division, Resources and Assessments Directorate, HQ US Pacific Command at Camp Smith, HI.

Lt. Col. Dillard began her Air Force career upon graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1994.  Her first assignments were in the Boston area, as a recruiter and later as personnel officer at Hanscom AFB.  She was promoted to Major in 2004 and to her current rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2009.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Godfrin

The Advocates welcome LTC Peter Godfrin, Professor of Military Science, who assumed his new assignment as Commander of the Paul Revere Battalion in July.

LTC Godfrin began his Army service in 1997.  Commissioned in the Aviation Branch, his first assignment was Platoon Leader in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division.  Next he served as Platoon Leader at Fort Carson, CO in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.  From 2003 to 2011 he served in Iraq and Afghanistan as Company Commander, Battalion XO, and Battalion Operations Officer for the 10th Aviation (Assault).  In 2011 he became a Planner at Headquarters, International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.  His most recent assignment was a tour as Instructor in the Department of Tactics at the Command and General Staff College.

Rebecca Dewey

Rebecca Dewey A15, Co-Director of ALLIES, will join the Executive Committee of the Advocates for ROTC for 2014-15.  ALLIES, the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services, is dedicated to bridging the civilian-military divide, starting at the undergraduate level.

Rebecca, a senior from Bethlehem, PA and a double major in International Relations and Environmental Studies, became involved in ALLIES her freshman year while a student in the EPIIC (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship) seminar. The granddaughter of a World War II veteran, she believes maintaining international security is vitally important.

In her sophomore year, Rebecca decided to give back to the ALLIES community from which she was learning so much. She became the Treasurer of the group and the Co-Director of FieldEx, an annual kinetic crisis simulation that thrusts participants in the middle of a conflict.  They live through two days of crisis and in the process learn leadership, decision-making and cooperation skills.  Nearly 70 students take part in this annual exercise on Peacekeeping and Stability Operations. "We try to place ROTC and service academy students in civilian roles and our civilian students in kinetic roles so they begin to comprehend the difficulties the other parties of a conflict face," Rebecca says, "and that promotes active learning for everyone involved."

After spending her junior fall abroad, Rebecca returned to take on the job of Co-Director.  She is busy overseeing this year's programs, starting with a conference on Nov 14-15 entitled, "In Case of Emergency: Civil-Military Relief and Disaster Response," which will include a simulation exercise.  ALLIES will also send representatives to West Point, the Air Force Academy, and the Naval Academy for annual conferences throughout the year.  In February, ALLIES will hold their principal annual conference, the Intellectual Roundtable, attended by students, faculty, military officers, government officials, academics, and NGO professionals nationwide to discuss prominent and timely issues in civilian-military relations. This year's Intellectual Roundtable will be hosted at West Point.

As loyal collaborators and supporters of our ROTC students, ALLIES always turn out in large numbers for our annual Veteran's Day program.  If you attend the program this year, be sure to introduce yourself and say hello to some of these fine students.

For more information on ALLIES, visit their website at

www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/programs/allies

or contact Rebecca directly at [email protected]

If you have information on where other alumni are, please send it to Gina Regonini, Assistant Director for Shared Interest Groups, for inclusion in future newsletters.

Not so long ago, a student enrolling at Tufts with an ROTC scholarship could be assured of having that ROTC scholarship throughout his or her Tufts career. That's not so true anymore. ROTC funding is being reduced on a national scale and the reductions are being felt here at Tufts as well.

Limiting the number of available scholarships, decreasing the numbers of academic years over which aid will be granted, and only funding certain fields of study are some of the ways in which ROTC funding is being reduced. With the current fiscal situation, things are not going to improve. Most likely, there will be further cuts in the program.

Tufts educates a number of returning veterans who receive education benefits through the GI Bill; however, these benefits don't cover the full cost of a Tufts education. Tufts is committed to honoring these men and women by making their college education affordable.

ROTC students and returning veterans, numbering about 50 during the school year, are an important and valuable segment of the Tufts community. Nearly half of them (45%) receive some form of financial aid.

To insure that we can continue to attract and educate these fine students, we proudly announce the establishment of the Tufts ROTC/Veterans Scholarship with a goal of raising a minimum of $500,000 for a fully endowed fund.

Thanks to the generosity of fellow alumni, we are well on our way with over $125,000 raised as of August 1, 2014.

Donate to the Tufts ROTC/Veterans Scholarship Fund

To ensure your gift is properly allocated, please select either "School of Arts & Sciences" or "Engineering," select "Other," and type in ROTC/Veterans Scholarship"