page_title: Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets
section_title: 1980s and beyond
hierarchical_section_title: Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets / History / 1980s and beyond
caption_attribution_description: English: A group of Cadets from Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets march in formation
context_page_description: The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets is the military component of the student body at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Cadets live together in residence halls, attend morning formation, wear a distinctive uniform, and receive an intensive military and leadership educational experience similar to that available at the United States service academies. The Corps of Cadets has existed from the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1872 to the present-day institution of Virginia Tech, which is designated a senior military college by federal law. According to program staff, about 1400 students participate as of September, 2018.
context_section_description: The freshman "Rat System" converted to the "New Cadet System" in the fall of 1981. Naval ROTC was established in 1983. The cadet regiment expanded to a three-battalion structure in 1998. Today the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets is one of six senior military colleges outside the five federal military academies. Virginia Tech is one of only three universities in the nation that maintains a full-time military environment within a larger civilian university; the others are Texas A&M and University of North Georgia.
  Since the Spanish–American War, the Corps has provided officers to the U.S. military. The valor of Corps alumni is legendary, with seven Medal of Honor recipients, and eighteen recipients of the nation's second highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross or Navy Cross. The Corps exemplifies in many ways the University motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).
caption: A group of Cadets marches in formation
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