I work at Virginia Military Institute.

 I tell everyone that it is "the best Transition Job a guy could have getting out of the Army," but now that I've been here ten years, I'm not sure I'll be transitioning anywhere. 

I'm damn proud of this school and what we do here.

My title is Corps and Institute Sergeant Major and I work for the Superintendent and the Commandant.

My general duties revolve around Parades, Discipline, Inspections, Appearance, The Color Guard, and Barracks Maintenance and Cleanliness.  My additional duties are to supervise Little John (our little cannon that we fire at football games), act as Hotel Company Tactical Officer, and serve in the barracks a few nights each month as Officer in Charge.

I also supervise the Cadet run New Cadet Military Training Program and Coach the Trap and Skeet Team.

VMI is a special place, filled with a special group of young people.  Our system is honorable, Spartan and highly adversarial.  There are no benefits for doing the right thing, only penalties for breaking the rules...actually...for getting caught breaking the rules.  We have one of the last few single-sanction honor systems left in the country.  Our Cadets will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those that do; it is the basis for our whole system and the Cadets hold their honor precious above all else.

What this school produces is a well educated, honorable, citizen-soldier, who take and negate risks, with a strong work ethic, leadership, and people skills, who are physically fit, motivated, and patriotic.  We do that by piling more on them than they can ever accomplish in a normal day, house them in a Barracks room with three, four, or five other Cadets, with little or no amenities.  They are punished severely for every infraction of the rules and receive not benefit or praise for doing the right thing.

Hell!  I don't really know how we do it, I'm not sure anyone does, but I know it works. I've often asked what a VMI Graduate should look like.  What skills should they possess, how do we train those skills, what's our plan?  I've never gotten a straight answer.  Maybe it the tough life in general that simply turns out a strong person.  Maybe it is the hours of walking around in a circle doing Penalty Tours that gives Cadets time to reflect. Somehow this school produces young leaders who act from the front, able to lead their subordinates and peers with respect and deference, and able to speak out with candor to Superiors...men and women who will do the hard right thing, in the absence of orders, when no one is looking over their shoulder, even if they know they won't be caught.  Valuable People! 

	The Folks in the Commandant's Office I work with a great group of folks.  We coordinate everything, except academic classes, that has to do with Cadets on Post.  We operate much like an Army Staff, with a Commander, his XO, an S1, S3, S4, and a Sergeant Major.  The Chaplain, Band Director, and Cadet Life office are also a part of the team. This photo is a little dated, but I can never get the crew together for a new one.
	The Colors! The Corps has three amazing Color Guard Teams.  They train themselves with a little oversight from me and we post and march the colors for special events.  Since I've been here, we've posted the Colors in London, in two Presidential Innaugural Parades, four Gubernatorial Parades, a Rose Parade, and Parades all over Virginia and Washington DC.
	Parades During a Cadet's four years at VMI, he will march dozens of Parades and hours practicing.  The first parade that they march is the Rat New Market Parade, which takes place in their first month at VMI, after they receive a historical orientation on the 1864 Battle of New Market and take their Cadet Oath. After that parades, though spectacular and impressive, become a thing of loathing for the Corps.  They take place most Fridays and home football game Saturdays, and for special events like reunions and Marshall Awards week. There are three parades that Cadets really care about--Parents Weekend Parade, the 15 May New Market Parade , and Graduation Parade.  The rest make me want to pull my hair out.
	Barracks
	This is a Military School
	Sad Duty Too often we have had to bury Brother Rats who have fallen on the Field of Honor.  We try to support any way we can, but always trying sending a Cadet presence.
	Honorary Brother Rat
	The Things I Get to Do
	New Cadet Military Training (NCMT) NCMT has grown for the good idea of a Cadet from Sweden to a tradition of solid basic training capped with a tough culminating exercise out in the George Washington National Forest. I was approached by the Commandant and Cadet Magnus Nordenman right after I arrived (Fall 2001) to look into the possibility of starting up the program.  The Supe was sold on the idea, and Commandant wanted it, but nobody else wanted to touch it.  I might have been the new guy, but, TRAINING!!  Now this was something I knew.  Magnus and I chose some hard-chargers within the Corps and built a cadre of trainers.  We chose 12 days in the second semester, during Military Duty, for the training, and then chose our Minimum Essential Tasks. We chose Marksmanship, First Aid, Land Navigation, and Survival Skills and started the program in the Spring of 2002.  What started out as a shoe-string program has grown into a tradition of solid training followed by a tough Evade and Escape Exercise before summer furlough.
	Magnus Nordenman '02, the Father of NCMT, with Commandant (2000-2008) Eric Hutchings '77 Proof that the best ideas come from inside the Corps, Magnus applied to VMI expecting a real military experience.  What he got was learning how to wear a uniform, learning how to march, and taking four years of Army ROTC.  There was no core military curriculum being taught and Cadets were leaving VMI having never fired a rifle.  He prepared a short brief on his idea and briefed the Commandant, who sent him to the Superintendent. This is His program and I consider it my honor and duty to keep it going.  It is a Cadet run, taught, and led program; all I do is resource it and check on it to keep it in-between the white lines.
	Special Events One of the great thinks about my job is the opportunity to take Cadets all over to support special events and represent VMI off Post.  We've assisted in ceremonies honoring two Vice Presidents, two Secretaries of State, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew, in London for the opening of the Jamestown Exhibit and a State Dinner, and the World Premier of Gods and Generals.  Each year for 5 years I chaperoned Cadets at the Old Dominion Cotillion and the Norfolk Azalea Festival.  Cadets support dozens of patriotic events around the nation each year.
	Little John II Built in 1958, Little john is our Cannon that we fire at football games and at other events on and off Post.  It is manned by an all volunteer crew of Cadets I picked this duty up with the passing of a long-time VMI employee who had been supervising the club for about 20 years.
	Trap and Skeet A few Cadets approached me a while back about using the DeButts Trap and Skeet out at VMI's McKethan Park.  I got permission to use it, had Coach Thorp teach me how to set up the range and turn on the machines, Bought some rounds and clays, and then a few of us went out and shot.  It was a blast. From there we began working on a Club team proposal for the folks in Cadet Life and we've had a team ever since.  We compete locally with like teams from Virginia Tech, Virginia, Radford, Delaware, Yale, George Mason, James Madison, Army and Navy.