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Ten Virginia Military Institute cadets and three history professors embarked on a three-day visit to Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas recently as part of a joint venture between the VMI chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta (PAT) national history honor society, the Department of History (DoH), and the John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis.
Col. M. Houston Johnson V, DoH head and professor, Maj. Madeleine Ramsey, assistant professor in the DoH, and Maj. Liz Schroepfer, assistant professor in the DoH, were the faculty members who led the trip.
According to Ramsey, who serves as co-adviser with Schroepfer for PAT, the trip is conducted annually with the purpose of introducing cadets to the federal and public history programs in the national capital region.
“Cadets increase their understanding of the utility of history in educating the public through intimate discussions with historians at a variety of museums,” she said. “Additionally, this experience serves as an opportunity for cadets to network and contemplate their own futures and consider pursuing similar professional careers as historians,” she said. The trip included a visit to the World War I Memorial; a “spy tour” of the Dupont Circle and Embassy Row neighborhoods, led by a former CIA case officer; a tour of the Pentagon where they met with the historians in the Joint History and Research Office who advise the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and a visit to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va., where Bane London ’25, a history major from Roanoke, interned last summer.
London remarked that the trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“Thanks to the efforts of both our faculty and alumni, we had the chance to visit places and organizations not easily accessible to the public,” he said. “Our hosts at each site were more than welcoming and provided cadets with information that we otherwise would not be privy to. Our time in D.C. was invaluable, not only as a great memory but also as a learning opportunity.”
Alumnus Ben Kincaid ’99, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, facilitated a tour at CIA headquarters in Langley for the group. From there, they traveled to the White House where they visited with another alumnus, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz ’96 and his staff in the West Wing. In true VMI spirit, Waltz challenged the cadets to a pushup competition just outside the situation room.
Riley Malone ’25, a history major from Zion Crossroads, who also serves as cadet-incharge for PAT, said, “It was a great opportunity to go and see the inner workings of the defense, intelligence, and government organizations as well as seeing how history can be applied outside of the classroom.”
