NROTC 2024 Commissioning Ceremony
Friends and family of the graduating students can click the announcement below to navigate to Eventbrite. There they can learn more about the students' educational journeys and RSVP to attend the ceremony.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
10:00 a.m.
Faculty House, Presidential floor
64 Morningside Drive
Columbia University in the City of New York
A reception will immediately follow the ceremony.
Kindly respond by Monday, May 13
Columbia University Commissionees
Ryan was born and raised in Lawton, OK and graduated high school in 2020. He is the fourth son of Tim and Pam Bolin, and he has three older brothers: Tate, Jon, and Ben. At Columbia Ryan earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History specializing in Early American History, and he also completed a concentration in East Asian Language and Culture. He is grateful to the friends, family, and mentors who helped him to reach this point. After commissioning, Ryan will serve as a Surface Warfare Nuclear officer and report to San Diego for Basic Training.
Reese was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated high school in 2020. He is the oldest of his three siblings- Dane, Brooklyn, and Heath. At Columbia, Reese earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering, concentrating in Energy Solutions. Grateful for the support received from his friends, mentors, and family, Reese is excited to live his dream as an officer in the United States Navy.
Emhyr was born and raised in Aurora, CO and moved to Reno, NV for high school, where he graduated in 2020. He is the only child of Vani and Suresh Subramanian, two immigrants from India. His grandfather, Colonel A.R. Ganapathy, served in the Indian Army and has been a major inspiration for Emhyr throughout his intellectual and professional journey. At Columbia, Emhyr graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering, with a minor in Biomedical Engineering and a concentration in Biotechnology and Biopharmaceuticals. Emhyr will serve as a Naval Reactors Engineer in Washington, D.C., upon commissioning as an Ensign in the United States Navy.
Nathan is from Loveland, Colorado, and joined the Navy in 2018 to begin the training pipeline to become a Nuclear Electronics Technician. After completing initial training, Nathan became a staff instructor on MTS-626, where he served one year before being selected for the Seaman-to-Admiral commissioning program. Nathan graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and will report to Naval Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina after commissioning to begin training as a Submarine Officer.
R. L. Crossland, CAPT USN (Ret.) BIO
Commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy upon his graduation from Columbia College in 1970 with a B. A. Degree in history, Roger Lee Crossland volunteered for SEAL (Sea/Air/Land) Team Training in Coronado, California. After completion of BUD/S training with Class 58, he was assigned to SEAL Team ONE. As a platoon officer with SEAL Team ONE, he completed a combat tour in Ca Mau, An Xuyen Province, Vietnam, participating in Phoenix operations (the abduction of high level Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army leaders) and attempted Britelight operations (the rescue of American P. O. W.’s). Immediately following his Vietnam tour, he served as an advisor teaching unconventional warfare tactics to the South Korean Underwater Demolition Teams in Chinhae, Korea and participated in Exercise Foal Eagle ’71. In 1972, he was assigned to Underwater Demolition Team TWELVE serving in the Philippines (including operations on Mindoro) and participating in amphibious operations elsewhere in the Pacific.
Upon leaving active duty in 1974, he was admitted to Fordham Law School and in 1977 was graduated with a Juris Doctor degree. He is the former general counsel of a major telecommunications company and subsequently took up trial practice in Connecticut.
Captain Crossland has served as a reserve SEAL officer since his release from active duty. Among his most noteworthy reserve accomplishments have been that he organized and commanded Naval Reserve SEAL Team TWO, the Navy’s first reserve SEAL team, and commanded Naval Reserve COMUSKOREA, the naval and marine corps reserve staff unit which mobilizes to the Commander U. S. Forces Korea, one of the largest naval reserve units in the northeast at the time.
CAPT Crossland has written internationally on maritime unconventional warfare and includes U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings and the New York Times among his credits. His articles “Rusty Hand of Steel” (Proceedings, December 1979) and “Unconventional Warfare Afloat” (Proceedings, November 1981) were respectively required, and recommended, reading at the Naval War College for several years after their publication. His article “Why Are Victims Our Only War Heroes?” (Proceedings, April 2004) received the greatest response of any of his Proceedings articles.
In January of 2002 he was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, serving in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. During his time in Afghanistan, he stayed in safehouses; since, perimeters had not yet been established at those locations.
CAPT Crossland retired in July of 2005 with 35 years commissioned service (receiving a special five-year extension of service in 2000), active and reserve. He retired from the practice of law in 2016.
Most recently, has authored the prizewinning novel, THE ABALONE UKULELE: A Tale of Far Eastern Intrigue, a multi-cultural sea story set in 1913 Shanghai (June 2021), and swam from Liberty Park in New Jersey to Battery Park in Manhattan (August 2023).