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Our Alumni Serving
Recognizing Those Who Serve Others in Their Communities, Country, and the World
Are you or someone you know serving the community, country, or the world? Send in a photo and a description of what you’re doing, where, and for whom. See instructions below.
The VMI Alumni Agencies would like to pay tribute to our citizen-soliders, who are, as Col. J.T.L. Preston said and as printed on the parapet, “an honor to our country and our state, objects of honest pride to their instructors ... and ready in every time of deepest peril ... .”
Those alumni whose photos and articles appear in this section of the Review could be members of the armed forces serving anywhere in the world, or they could be members of police and fire departments, legislators, doctors offering their services to those less fortunate, or alumni volunteering at food pantries.
If you or someone you know is serving others, please submit a high resolution photo (3 or 4 megapixels, minimum) taken at the location you are serving or with the people whom you serve.
Along with the photo, please submit a caption that explains what your service is, where you perform it, and for whom. Send these to the VMI Alumni Review staff at review@ vmiaa.org or by mail to VMI Alumni Review, P.O. Box 932, Lexington, VA 24450, Attention: Alumni Review. We will review your submission and consider it for publication.
Macpherson ’68 Featured in Reader’s Digest
Robert Macpherson ’68 was an active duty U.S. Marine and subsequently spent 20 years in humanitarian work in Somalia, the Bosnian War, Rwanda, Darfur, Haiti, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He suffers from PTSD and received his service dog, Blue, through the Veterans Affairs and Southeastern Guide Dogs. Blue helps Macpherson thrive, rather than just survive. To read more about the relationship between Blue and Macpherson and the programs that brought them together, see Macpherson’s Reader’s Digest article on the magazine’s website.
Eubank ’91 Promoted to Major General
Chris Eubank ’91 (center) with his daughter, Emerson (left), and wife, Kim (right), at his promotion to major general in the U.S. Army, Aug. 26, 2021.
Arnold ’92 Serves in Florida
Lt. Col. Steve Arnold ’92 serves as the inspector general for the First Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida.
Performing base operating support are (from left) Maj. Matt Swanson ’92, Capt. Brian Pool ’12, and Col. Todd Pegg ’92 of the 329th Regional Support Group of the Virginia National Guard at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. Not pictured but also deployed is Lt. Col. Corey Stavinoha ’02.
Pitchford ’95 Assumes Command
U.S. Marine Corps Col. Richard Pitchford ’95 at his assumption of command of the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment in Williamsburg, Virginia. Pitchford (center) is joined by U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Shayne Yenzer (left) and retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Matt St. Clair ’89 (right).
Van Noah ’82, U.S. Army Col. Marc Mueller ’93, U.S. Army Col. Chris Noe ’96, retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Andy Brown ’80, and Jason Trubenbach ’99 attending the National Defense Transportation Association Fall Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. Brown serves as the president of the NDTA.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Matthew C. Johnson ’15, Sgt. 1st Class Eliot D. Bray, Capt. Jeremiah D. Worker, and 1st Lt. Jill E. Bottarini, explosive ordnance disposal technicians from the 38th Ordnance Company, visit Bonaventure Cemetery in Thunderbolt, Georgia, to honor a fallen EOD technician in September 2021. They placed a flag on the soldier’s gravesite.—U.S. Army photos by Alyssa Johnson.
Johnson ’15 Honors Fallen Soldier
Webster ’21, Lee ’21, and Roberts ’21 Participate in 9/11 Memorial
Members of the Class of 2021 visited barracks on 9/11 to participate in the stair climb, an annual memorial activity. Attending are 2nd Lts. Sullivan Webster ’21, Joohyuk Lee ’21, and Devin Roberts ’21.
Hoffman ’22 and Soo ’22 Ranked in Top 10 Nationally for Army ROTC
Two VMI Army ROTC cadets are ranked in the top 10 of all Army ROTC cadets in the nation, U.S. Army Cadet Command announced Sept. 27, 2021. Cadet Michael Hoffman ’22 is No. 5 and Cadet Christopher Soo ’22 is No. 7. VMI cadets typically rank highly in national ROTC rankings. In recent years, Alex Hoopes ’19, Luke Phillips ’17, Jason LaCerda ’07, and Kyle Schriefer ’06 were ranked No. 1 in their cohort. Around 5,000 cadets are commissioned through Army ROTC annually.—Photo courtesy VMI Communications & Marketing.
Cadet Christina Skaggs ’22 is one of approximately five Class of 2022 Naval ROTC cadets in the nation selected to serve as a surface warfare information professional officer. At press time, the Navy had not yet released numbers of SWO-IP midshipmen chosen, but the selection average is four to six Naval ROTC midshipmen annually. Skaggs is an English major, and cadets selected for SWO-IP are typically majoring in computer science, information systems, electrical computer engineering, or cybersecurity. Skaggs will serve two years as a surface warfare officer following graduation and commissioning. She will then attend IPO School, where she will learn about cybersecurity and how to manage, organize, and maintain confidential and top-secret information and will then be assigned to a service area as an IPO. Skaggs is the NROTC Battalion public affairs officer, Bomb editor-in-chief, 1st Battalion S-7 lieutenant for Corps event planning and morale, and interned with the VMI Alumni Agencies communications team in fall 2020.—Photo by Adrea Thomas.
Skaggs ’22 Selected as Surface Warfare Information Professional Officer
