Virginia Tech to host major conference with nation’s senior military colleges

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will host senior leaders and cadets from the country’s six senior military colleges Oct. 23-25 in Blacksburg.

This Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States’ conference, which moves its venue among the participating schools annually, gives senior leaders a chance to talk about topics that affect all the military colleges, said Maj. Gen. Randal Fullhart, commandant of cadets.

Topics to be discussed include curriculum, leader professional development standards, military commissioning programs, Title IX issues, and Department of Defense and military service initiatives. Representatives from all the military services and the Office of the Secretary of Defense also will attend.

Fullhart serves as this year’s president of the association, which was founded in 1914 and today represents more than 40 accredited military colleges and college preparatory schools around the country.

“Being a senior military college, established in law, means the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and our experienced staff, along with top-tier ROTC programs, help differentiate Virginia Tech from other universities and certainly puts us in a position to be of value to every single Destination Area being developed, most particularly integrated security,” Fullhart said.

Destination Areas are pockets of disciplinary and interdisciplinary strength that set Virginia Tech above other universities. The Integrated Security Destination Area seeks to identify, understand, and mitigate vulnerabilities to increase global security and to address the critical workforce and technology needs of state and federal and defense sectors.

Cadet David Robison, of Christiansburg, Virginia, a senior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, was one of two cadets who participated in discussions at last year’s conference, hosted by the University of North Georgia.

“Attending the conference allowed me to gain a better insight into the workings of other senior military colleges, as well as gain a few more leadership tools to bring back to the corps,” Robinson said.