NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: November 26, 2019
(JACKSON, MS) – Two Rankin County School District students were among the 21 Army cadets awarded the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Academic/Leadership Excellence in 2019. The awardees were selected from among the nation’s 315,000 Army cadets and are the only Mississippi cadets to earn the designation this year.
Cadet Logan Switzer is a senior at Brandon High School and is currently serving as Battalion Commander of Brandon High School’s Army Junior ROTC program. He has also served as a Service-Learning Team Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant and Platoon Leader. He has led the Service-Learning Project for the Battalion. Cadet Switzer currently serves on the Student Tech Team for Brandon High School and has done so for all four years of high school. He has worked tenaciously to achieve his Eagle Scout designation and numerous other awards in Scouting. He attended the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge at Camp Shelby and JROTC Leader-State at Mississippi State University. Cadet Switzer has received the Superior Cadet award and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Award for Leadership. He is a former member of the JROTC Academic and Leadership teams and has served as the team captain last year. Cadet Switzer is currently ranked 17th in his class of 383 students with a cumulative grade point average of 4.00 and an ACT score of 34. He currently has nearly 200 community service hours volunteering his time in the community. After graduation, Cadet Switzer plans to attend Mississippi State University and pursue a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
Cadet Christopher Walton is a senior at Northwest Rankin High School and currently serves as the Battalion Commander of Northwest Rankin’s Army Junior ROTC Program. He has also served as Battalion Operations Officer and Company Commander in previous years. Cadet Walton is a member of the Marching Band, Symphonic Band, and Percussion Ensemble where he received the school’s musicianship award. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, and Beta Club. Cadet Walton has received the Military Order of Purple Heart Leadership Award, the American Legion Award for Military Excellence, and the Superior Cadet Award. Last year he was recognized as the Rankin County School District’s JROTC Cadet of the Semester. He has also served as Captain of the JROTC Leadership and Academic Teams. Cadet Walton attended the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge at Camp Shelby, JROTC Leader-State at Mississippi State University, the Hugh O’Brien Youth (HOBY) Leadership Seminar at Millsaps College, and the Lott Leadership Institute at the University of Mississippi. Cadet Walton is currently ranked 44th in his class of 368 students with a cumulative grade point average of 4.00 and an ACT score of 30. He is active in both his community and church and has earned the coveted Eagle Scout Award. After graduation, he plans to attend Mississippi State University and pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Logan Switzer
Brandon High School
Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Walton
Northwest Rankin High School
