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Black Hawk helicopters to land at Tech on Tuesday
In celebration of Veterans Week at Tennessee Tech, a pair of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters
will land on campus on Tuesday.
Part of the Tennessee Army National Guard 230th aviation regiment, the helicopters are scheduled to land on the president’s lawn around 10 a.m. The Guard calls these teacher or COI, center of influence flights, which create exposure and public awareness of the skills of soldiers in our community.
The exercise is also in conjunction with Tennessee Tech’s long-standing ROTC program and the Guard.
“We have around 100 cadets on campus with about half of them contracted to commission into the Army and Army National Guard,” said SSG Justin Birdwell, Tech’s TN National Guard recruiter. “They have supported us in the past with moving cadets to and from training sites. This is more of a public awareness event promoting our capabilities and appreciation to the university and supporting our program and veterans.”
In 1950, the U.S. Army established the Tech’s ROTC program as the first Signal Corps ROTC unit in the nation. With a first class of 325 cadets, the Battalion grew to over 740 cadets during the Korean War. In 1956, the program became mandatory for male Tennessee Tech students as well as students from all other Tennessee colleges.
By 1967, Tennessee Tech had the second largest program in the southeast with 1,834 cadets. In 1972, ROTC at Tennessee Tech again became voluntary, and women were authorized to enroll in military science for the first time beginning in 1973. Since the first class of eleven officers commissioned on 27 July 1951, the Golden Eagle Battalion has commissioned 1,733 outstanding Officers, including nine General officers.
Tech’s Army ROTC program continues to be a critical commission source for Army officers for all three components of the Army – Active, National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve – and produces a higher than average production of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors and Nurse Corps Officers.
Distinguished alumni include General Carl W. Stiner, who attained the rank of 4-Star General and served as the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, and current Major General Edward F. Dorman III, U.S. Army and Brigadier General Marcus S. Evans, U.S. Army.
Veterans Week at Tech began Monday morning with a Veterans Day ceremony in front of the Jere Whitson Building. Sponsored by the office of military and veteran affairs, the ceremony kicked off a week of events which include veteran appreciation day on Tuesday, a student-veteran block party on Wednesday, a student veteran organization versus ROTC kickball tournament on Thursday and a campus service day on Friday.
