SALINA -The Kansas National Guard 235th Regiment will host a graduation and commissioning ceremony Saturday, August 15 for 17 students of Officer Candidate School Class 59, according to a media release.

The 1 p.m. ceremony will take place at the Kansas Highway Patrol Academy, 2025 E. Iron Ave., Salina.

Guest speaker for the event will be Gov. Sam Brownback.

The graduating officer candidates who will be commissioned as second lieutenants are Serini Betacourt, William Burwell, Aaron Clopton, Eric Cooley, Thomas Denn, Jacquelyn Haneyballew, Douglas Herbert, Cody Johnson, Khoa Luong, Trey Maevers, Charles Manarang, Abdulkarim Nkrumbih, Ty Roberts, Patrick Short, Adam Taylor, Travis Thurau and James West.

The OCS traditional program consisted of a two-week Phase I and 13-month Phase II conducted one weekend a month at the Kansas Regional Training Institute in Salina. Phase III training consisted of a two-week tactical leadership course at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington. It includes more than 900 hours of classroom instruction, field training exercises and physical training.