Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport

Army ROTC cadets from around the country hold their collective breath each fall as they await news of the release of the national Order of Merit List (OML). WKU Army ROTC cadet Rachelle G. Boucher learned this month that she had captured the number eight spot in the prestigious top 10, out of almost 5,600 graduating cadets.

The OML ranks all Army ROTC seniors across the nation, with the top 20 percent earning the designation of Distinguished Military Graduate.  This year there are 1,119 Distinguished Military Graduates.

Boucher, the daughter of Henry Boucher of Bowling Green and Maureen Boucher of Tampa, Fla., is a 2006 graduate of East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, Fla.  Already the holder of a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from WKU (2010), she is pursuing a Masters in Sports Administration degree. She is on track to receive her degree and be commissioned in May 2013.

Cadets are ranked on the Order of Merit List by achieving superior grade point averages, strong athletic performance in the Army physical fitness test and college athletic participation, proving their worth as exceptional leaders in their college ROTC training, and their performance at the Leader Development and Assessment Course at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Wash.

In addition to her accomplishments in those areas, Boucher is quick to attribute her success to her family and her faith, and to the support of the WKU Army ROTC staff and fellow cadets.

“I am blessed to have great cadre at Western Kentucky University.  They have done everything in their power to teach and mentor all of us cadets to become great leaders for our country,”  she said.

Contact: Mike Johnson, (502) 624-3450.

WKU Army ROTC cadet Rachelle Boucher (third from left) is ranked No. 8 on the new national Order of Merit List – out of almost 5,600 cadets. Pictured with Boucher at her graduation this summer from Airborne School are (from left): her brother David Boucher, his fiancee Nicole Rubin and her mother Maureen Boucher.