Annually the largest alumni reunion event on campus, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni are returning to campus to celebrate the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Homecoming in conjunction with the Sept. 22, football game versus Bowling Green.
As part of Corps Homecoming andMilitary Appreciation Day, for the third consecutive year, the Tri-State Warbird Museum located in Batavia, Ohio, will sponsor a military flyover with a historic World War II-era North American B-25 Mitchell bomber, “Axis Nightmare” and a North American P-51D fighter, “Cincinnati Miss”.
The B-25 will fly during the National Anthem at the conclusion of the joint march-on by the current cadet regiment of over 1,050 cadets and the alumni regiment, which has over 300 individuals returning. The P-51 will fly during the halftime Military Appreciation performance by both theMarching Virginians and the Highty-Tighties, which is the corps regimental band.
The flyovers are expected barring weather or operational factors and have been arranged by Stan Cohen who earned his bachelor’s in architectural engineering in 1949 and master’s in civil engineering in 1951 from the College of Engineering and is a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Class of 1949. To make this flyover a reality, Cohen is covering the total cost of this venture.
The aircraft will be on display at the Virginia Tech/Montgomery Regional Airport beginning Friday, Sept. 21, at 10 a.m. when the B-25 is scheduled to arrive. The P-51 arrival time is estimated at 12:30 p.m. on Friday and crews will be available until approximately 5 p.m. The crews will also be available Saturday before the game and after the flyovers until 5 p.m. as well as Sunday morning until the aircraft depart at 10 a.m.
Both aircraft will do practice flights in the local area on Friday.
The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Homecoming includes many events for current cadets and returning alumni. Kicking off the busy week is the Fall 2012 Gunfighters Panel, which will be held on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 3:30 p.m. in the Burruss Hall Auditorium.
Four Corps of Cadets alumni, who have served a combat deployment, will share their experiences, their lessons learned, and their leadership challenges, while also sharing how the corps experience prepared them for life after college. One Gunfighter will give the Hokies Respect announcement at the Bowling Green game. All are welcome to join the corps for the Fall 2012 Gunfighters Panel event and no tickets are required.
On Friday at 4:45 p.m., the regiment will hold a formal retreat ceremony to honor returning alumni. The ceremony will be held at the flag pole on Upper Quad. The regiment will be formed between Lane, Brodie, and Rasche Halls. The P-51 is scheduled to perform a flyover of Lane Hall during the ceremony. The Color Guard will lower the flag, Skipper, the corps cannon, will fire, and the Highty-Tighties will play.
Friday night will continue with the cadet leadership dinner where Regimental CommanderCadet Col. Kareim Oliphant of East Orange, N.J., a senior majoring in psychology in the College of Science, who is a member of the Citizen-Leader Track will speak to the alumni about his cadet experience. On Saturday morning alumni who have endowed Corps of Cadets scholarships will attend the annual corps donor breakfast with the cadets who are the recipients of their generosity.
Also, as part of the Corps of Cadets homecoming weekend and to honor the special relationship between Virginia Tech and the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., cadets will be collecting for this worthy cause at each of the entry gates to Lane Stadium. To date over $190,000 has been collected by the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets for the National D-Day Memorial. The corps is the largest non-corporate sponsor of the memorial.
After the game the annual corps homecoming meal will take place at which the Commandant of Cadets Maj. Gen. Randal Fullhart, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, will be the keynote speaker.
