The United States Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps will celebrate its 50th anniversary on The University of Memphis campus Friday.
The AFROTC will host an open house at 10 a.m. in Hayden Hall, Room 118. A parade will be held at 1 p.m. on South Campus featuring the Air Force ROTC unit, the Army ROTC unit and the Navy ROTC unit. The parade will be immediately followed by an outdoor reception at the same site.
"There are a lot of people in the area that are coming," said Capt. Kevin Nations, assistant professor of Aerospace studies. "A lot of retirees are coming, especially from the class of 1954, which was the first graduating class. We have a lot of alumni and graduates who want to meet friends. That's what it is really for, to meet people and rekindle with old friends."
The AFROTC has several honored guests that will be appearing for the event. Dr. Donald Carson, vice president of student affairs at The U of M, will be the speaker at the activity. Commanding officer Capt. Diane Lofink will be coming from the Millington Naval Air station to attend the celebration. The event will also include retired Maj. Gen. Donald Gardner, vice commander of the Little Rock Air Force Base Col. William Baily, vice commander of the Tennessee National Guard Col. Fred Smith, and chairman/chief executive officer of the board of visitors Pat Tigrett.
Currently, the AFROTC unit has 26 cadets, 17 males and nine females, according to current Air Force ROTC statistics.
"We are one of the oldest ROTC units in country," Nations, said. "The University of Memphis actually used to have the biggest program in the United States in the 50s and 60s. This was a land grant school, so ROTC was mandatory for all freshmen and sophomores."
"There were over 2,000 cadets," Lt. Col. Ricky Willis, U of M AFROTC commander said.
According to Willis, Friday's celebration is a great way to rekindle relationships with their alumni.
"It's an alumni social," Willis said.
"The 50th anniversary is an excellent opportunity to remind the students, faculty, and our alumni of the Air Force ROTC program, and it's a positive community impact," said John Gilliland, captain of the United States Air Force and law student at The U of M.
In case of inclement weather, the celebration will be moved to the Elma Roane Field House, and the reception will be held in Hayden Hall, Room 118.
