VT Corp of Cadets Gunfighter Panel
Venue: Burruss Auditorium, Blacksburg
Directions: Google Map Link
Date: Thursday, September 20, 2012
Time: 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Event Types: Speaking Engagements
Cost: Free
Description:
The Fall 2012 Gunfighter Panel will be held on Thursday, Sept. 20th in the Burruss Hall Auditorium. All are welcome to attend and no tickets are required.

Each semester, 3 or 4 alumni are welcomed back to campus to sit on the Gunfighter Panel. They will share their combat deployment experiences, their lessons learned and leadership challenges, while also sharing how the corps experience prepared them for life after college.

The Gunfighter Panel series started in 2004, shortly after the United States entered combat in Iraq. With the war came the increased potential for our cadets to be in combat shortly after graduation, and this series evolved to help prepare them for their future in an uncertain world. This semester, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will welcome back a U.S. Air Force officer, a Marine Corps officer, an Army officer, and a Navy officer.

• Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Lt. Col. Mike Miller, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in communication from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 1993 is returning to campus from his current assignment at Beale Air Force Base, Ca. as a U-2 mission planner. Miller has been deployed 38 times, returning from his last tour in May.

• Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Maj. Matthew Gioia, U.S. Marine Corps, who earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and has over 3,000 flight hours in the CH-46E helicopter. He is currently serving as the rotary wing safety officer at Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Va., where he is responsible for monitoring and implementing safety programs for Marine aviation.

• Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Lt. j.g. Anthony LaVopa, U.S. Navy, who earned a degree in civil engineering from the College of Engineering and a minor in leadership studies from the Maj. Gen. W. Thomas Rice Center for Leader Development in 2009 recently returned from deployment with the Enterprise Strike Group. He is currently serving as an assistant professor of naval science and the surface warfare advisor for the U.S. Navy's Naval ROTC unit at Rutgers University.

• Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumna Capt. Katie Haimann, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in civil engineering from the College of Engineering and a minor in leadership studies from the Maj. Gen. W. Thomas Rice Center for Leader Development in 2008 is coming from Fort Bragg, N.C., and just completed airborne school. She has deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn.

Free parking is available in Perry Street Lots and the Perry Street Parking Garage near Prices Fork Road with a visitor’s pass. A visitor’s pass may be obtained Monday-Friday from 8 am to 5 pm at the Visitor Information Center, located at 965 Prices Fork Road. Find more parking information at: http://www.parking.vt.edu

For more information, visit: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2012/09/091412-corps-gunfighterfall12.html

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