MTSU ROTC Alumnus Now 1-Star General Dec 24, 2020 at 12:01 pm by WGNS U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Robert Powell Jr. (AUGUSTA GA) An MTSU ROTC alumnus has become the U.S. Army Reserve’s first cyber officer to be promoted to brigadier general. Robert Powell Jr., who graduated from MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts with a bachelor’s degree in international relations in 1991, was promoted from colonel to the one-star rank of brigadier general during a ceremony on Dec. 15 at Fort Gordon, Georgia. With the promotion, Powell will serve as the deputy commanding general, cyber, of the 335th Signal Command (Theater). He commanded the Army Reserve’s Cyber Protection Brigade from 2016 to 2019.