VT Stories Oral History with General Carlton Everhart, September 23, 2017 (Ms2016-015)

Ren Harman: I will do a little housekeeping business at the top and then

we'll get started with a couple of questions. Good morning. This is Ren Harman,

the project director for VT Stories. Today is Saturday, September 23, 2017 at

about 9:10 AM. We are in the Alumni Library in the Holtzman Alumni Center with a

very special guest. If you could just say in a complete sentence my name is,

when you were born, and where you were born.

General Everhart: My name is Carlton D. Everhart, II. I was born on the 17th of

June 1961 at Selfridge Air Force Base in Mt. Clemmons, Michigan.

Ren: Thank you. What years did you attend Virginia Tech?

General E: '79 to 1983.

Ren: And your major?

General E: I was a major in agriculture, education, and with ag business.[1]

Ren: So the first question, can you just tell me a little bit about growing up

and your early life?

General E: Sure. I grew up on a border town. Are you 00:01:00familiar with the Andy

Griffith Show?

Ren: Yes.

General E: Mayberry?

Ren: Yeah.

General E: That's where my dad's practice was and we had a 400-acre farm right

across the state line in Cana, Virginia, which is at the foot of Fancy Gap

Mountain. And so, early on, the reason why you may ask is that why did you go to

school and everything in North Carolina? It's just because the community was so

small it was even go up the mountain and travel or down the mountain to dad's

practice, as he was going to work anyway, and my mother worked with my father,

so we went to school in North Carolina, and in the town of Mayberry.[2]

Ren: Right.

General E: And so I grew up on the farm and with the cultural life there, which

actually drove my decision to come to Virginia Tech, or part of my decision to

come to Virginia Tech, at least major in agriculture, [3]because I started but

here and I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I started out here in

business administration, business management, and had a heart to heart talk with

myself, and said I really would like to change my major to go into the

agriculture, because 00:02:00with a 400-acre farm eventually that's what I would like to

do is run the farm.

Ren: Right.

General E: So great years growing up early on in North Carolina, and then we

actually had a house on the farm in Virginia. That's where we lived. And then my

sister winded up going to UVA, my oldest sister, and my sister next to me,

Jennine, winded up coming to Virginia Tech. And so coming and looking at both

campuses I fell in love with this place. I fell in love with the architecture.

Fell in love with the hometown atmosphere, fell in love with the spirit,[4] and

that's what kind of drove my decision besides wanting to fly. That's what drove

my decision to come here and then join the Corps of Cadets and become obviously

a graduate.

Ren: Right. There's four siblings[5] total?

General E: There is. So, I've got two older sisters and a younger brother.

Ren: And your father was a physician?

General E: He was. He started out, he went to Wake Forest, went to Wake Forest

School of Medicine and my mom was a nurse there. That's where they met, going 00:03:00through nurse's training.

And then he entered into the military because back then that's how you, if you

want to pay for college you have to have a commitment, and so his commitment was

to help pay his college of medical school he had to join the military, and

that's kind of where, a little bit of the flavor, we really didn't know that.

Actually my grandfather kept showing me model airplanes that got me interested,

and then to want to fly. The decision happened when I was about 12 years old.

[00:03:31 low-level] that flew by the house.

Ren: When I was doing some research and I watched a couple of interviews and I

heard you speaking and I couldn't figure out where you were from. I said this

guy has to be, and I said either North Carolina or South Carolina, so I was close.

General E: On the border. It's in Virginia but it's so close we kind of invented

our own accent.

Ren: Right. I'm from southwest Virginia, so I understand. What was life like

growing up? What kind of things did you get into as a 00:04:00young child?

General E: What kind of things I got into that I don't want to tell you on this interview?

Ren: [Laughs] Yeah.

General E: I played sports in high school. I loved football, so I started

playing football when I was about in the second grade. As a matter of fact, I

wanted to play football here at Virginia Tech.[6] It was a very very small

school. Mountain Airy High School is very very small, and we would work on the

farm during the weekends. Work on the farm during the week. That's how dad would

give us an allowance. We helped out. We helped build our home. When I was about

15 or 16 years old the summer jobs that you always do, construction or carpentry

work or help around the farm and those types of things, so very active in high

school, student counsel, those types of things. Sports, I did football,

wrestling, track and weightlifting. That's what I did. So key club, those types

of things. The same 00:05:00things you do in school.

Ren: Right. What kind of lessons did you learn working on a farm growing up?

General E: That's a great question. I learned the foundation of the things that

are my common beliefs, my ethics, not only what the Air Force has taught me, but

came from my mother and father.[7] Mom and dad were always, if you lose your

ethic of honesty and integrity then you lose yourself. There are some things you

can do on the farm to get yourself in trouble, and about every time the rope got

just about long enough to hang myself on they were always there to give me an

extra inch, and then pick me up. It's not that I was a trouble kid, it's not

that at all. They would pick me up, dust me off and say, "Okay, did you learn

your lesson on that one? And if you didn't let's learn you a lesson on that

one." There's also a couple of things they did, you know, mom and dad would

always say, "Hey, if you're going to do a decent day's work you do it with a

decent day's dollar. And when you go 00:06:00into something you give it 110%, not 100%,

you give it 110%."

And so those foundations is what, just that small amount of stuff and don't get

me wrong, there was a plethora of other things that they taught me. And being

very close to our siblings, our family was close, and so we always took care of

each other. We always helped out with each other. I kind of got myself in

trouble because I always monitored who my sisters were going to date.

Ren: As one should, right.

General E: As it should be, exactly right. So I owe a lot of that, I owe Coach

Hansworth, my football coach, laying all the foundations and laying those things

and intestinal fortitude, what you do, what you do in life. I owe a lot to him.

And I owe a lot coming to the Corps here, because I really believe that the

Corps and my professors here, two of my professors who just took me under their

wing, they really did and 00:07:00helped me through, a lot of good things. But the Corps

laid the foundation of what I did in the next 33 years of my military service,

because I've been in for 33 years now. So a long way to answer your question,

but those foundations have been built all the way. When I got to the Air Force

it continued to build. It never stops growing, and that's another thing that mom

and dad taught me, you never stop learning, ever. So it's a constant learning

experience and it's a constant experience of you learn from your mistakes and

you grow and you make yourself better and better.[8]

Ren: What position did you play in football?

General E: I was a linebacker, a defense end at one time, defensive end tackle

at one time, and a full back. Our team was really really really small, so I

ended up playing defense and offense.

Ren: You played both ways, right.

General E: We were 60-minute people.

Ren: Oh gosh. Did you come from a military family? Was many members of your

family in the military?

General E: Nope. As a matter of fact, 00:08:00dad, like I said I was born on Selfridge

Air Force Base, and my sister was born on Selfridge Air Force base and when his

commitment was done he does, "I love the military. I don't like people telling

me what to do. I'm a doctor, I should be able to..." That's when he moved to

Mount Airy, North Carolina because he was from Lexington. It was an agreement he

had to make with the State to go to a rural area other than your hometown, and

that's where we originally settled, and then we moved up on our family farm in

Virginia when I was about 8 or 9 years old, 6 or 7 years old actually.

Ren: What was his specialty in medicine?

General E: He was a family practitioner and specialized in family medicine. So

he had about four generations of children he delivered.

Ren: Wow. That's impressive.

General E: He practiced medicine if I'm not mistaken practiced medicine about 42

years, and mom was a family nurse practitioner and practiced medicine with him. 00:09:00My parents like I say, they laid the foundation. Dad was a doctor and my mom was

one of the first nurse practitioners to actually go through the program which

originated in Chapel Hill. And so there was oftentimes on the farm where she

would be at school and dad on a Wednesday, because that was his day off would

go, and my sister we would take care of ourselves at the farm until he got back

there the next day. And you go how would you live your children overnight on a

farm? We just don't do that anymore. Well back then you did, so that was a

matter of trust. That was a matter of I know you're not going to get to school

on time. I know you're not going to cut-out. That's just what we expected you to

do. It wasn't a matter of choice, it was just this is your expectations, go do it.

Ren: And the youngest of five, so a big family, close family. Some of these

values and things you talk about your mother and father instilled in you,

obviously your father was a physician and your mother a nurse practitioner as

you mentioned, education obviously 00:10:00that was probably a big focal point of their

upbringing, right?

General E: It was. And it's interesting, you know, do I go to college or not?

'You're going to go to college; you're just going to pick where you want to go.'

There again, I knew I wanted to fly. I knew that after seeing a couple of Navy

A6s fly a low-level route right by the house I said, "That's what I want to do,"

because mom goes, we were actually painting a fence on the farm, the jets flew

over. It peeled off and one of them did a low-level aileron roll, which I didn't

know what it was at that time, and mom goes, "Do you want to be a doctor like

your dad like you always said you wanted to be?" I said, "No mom, I want to do

that," and she goes, "Well then go for it. Go for it. Kick those doors open and

try to make it happen[9].

So, the education piece was not whether it's going to happen, it's going to

happen, you just need to pick the circumstance of 00:11:00how it's going to happen. And

so they allowed us a lot of leeway on that, a lot of leeway. So it was just

expected, and then continuing education, you know it's very fortunate because

the military it likes you to have your advance degrees, and so it's expected.

And there was no harm, no foul if it didn't happen. That was the best thing

about my mom and dad. If it happened, great. If it didn't happen, great. All my

family they've got advance degrees and there again it's just part of life.

Ren: Right. As someone who has traveled down to Fancy Gap quite often to go to

North Carolina and further south, I would often see those jets kind of flying

and practicing I guess that you're discussing there. When did Virginia Tech come

into the picture? You said you visited, but I guess probably in high school you

started thinking about college?

General E: It was. It was high school. My sister was here. Like I say, my oldest

sister went to 00:12:00UVA. What appealed to me was the Corps of Cadets.[10] I knew I

wanted to fly and the other thing that appealed to me about Virginia Tech was

the fact that like I say, living in Virginia, being in school in North Carolina,

I was a ball player and those types of things, so I was going to be a big fish.

There I was a big fish in a little sea, and this campus, because of the student

body and the population back then, I think it was around 25,000, I was going to

be a little fish in a big sea. How do I make that transition? I don't know how

to do this. The Corps of Cadets offered me #1 an opportunity to be able to go

pursue what I wanted to do and that was fly. Two, it offered me a chance to be

able to in a close-knit community to be able to, we could depend on each other,

so this overwhelming beautiful campus did not overwhelm me, because you can get

lost in a collegiate life if you don't watch 00:13:00 it.

Ren: Right.

General E: And so it helped me to get through college without partying too much

or enjoying myself too much and then flunking out of school. That's not what I

wanted to do. And like I say, I was going to play ball here. I was a little bit

bigger then, a lot of weights, a lot of football. I had already tried out at

several colleges and it was just a decision that came to light, because Bill

Dooley goes, "Hey, we will red shirt you, then your next two years we'll give

you a partial scholarship, and if everything goes well we will give you a full

ride your last two years." I got to thinking, well, if I'm a red-shirted

freshman and red-shirted freshman turns into a blocking dummy, blocking dummy

gets hurt, can't pass your medical physical so won't have the opportunity to

fly, and you're not going to play pro ball, you're just not big enough, fast

enough, strong enough. This is the conversation I'm having with myself as an

18-year-old. I said maybe I just ought to 00:14:00go into the Corps, and you want to

pursue flying, you want to pursue the Air Force, just go do that, and that was

the decision I made. I built you a watch. I didn't mean to.

Ren: Oh no, you're fine.

General E: There again, I had complete support of my mother and father, and then

it was the beauty of the campus and being raised in those mountains in Virginia,

they've got mountains here, just gorgeous, a close-knit community. I mean

literally, you know this college campus, this university. You can literally walk

across the street and you're downtown Blacksburg. Well guess what? I'm downtown

Cana, Virginia for the small area, or if I go down to the big town which back

then was Mount Airy, I'm very comfortable, very familiar, the hometown life, the

opportunities, and that's what this university allowed me to do and that's what

the Corps allowed me. And that went all into the decision matrix and I'm telling

you, for me, 00:15:00not because of the successes I've had in my career, for me I've

been tremendously blessed and I would never go back and change these decisions

again. I'm just happy with the decisions I've made. It actually for me worked

our perfectly.[11]

Ren: Perfect, right. Do you remember your first memory of the campus when you

stepped on? Do you remember your feelings and what it looked like, maybe even

smelled like?

General E: Yeah, absolutely. So you're going to Virginia Tech, whooh! You got an

acceptance letter. You're going into the Corps of Cadets. Whooh! What does that

mean? What am I doing to myself? So we have to show up early. You asked me, so

my first experience was coming on here and visiting my sister. There was a lot

of times I would go visit my sister in Charlottesville and then come back

through as we're heading back down to Fancy Gap, and to Cana, come back through

and visit Jennine here. And then looking at the Corps and looking at what she

was doing, looking at the 00:16:00academic buildings, looking at the architecture, you

just fall more and more... I mean this campus is beautiful. The Hokie stone, the

architecture, it's built in the same flavor. It's an historical piece. Coming

into the fall, seeing the fall colors, those are the things that I remember and

it was just like home. It was just like home on the farm[12].

So then fast-forward, as you're getting ready to enter you have to show up and

you have to get tailored for your uniform. And mom brought me up. She brought me

up. Dad was practicing medicine, so she brought me up in her spare time. We came

up and saw the campus, got tailored. We got orientation, like this is great.

This is just great. This is exactly what I want. Then we get here and you get

your uniforms issued to you and you have to go get a haircut. And your mom and

dad is there and everybody friendly and happy and you're in the Corps and this

is great, and then they go away and then it starts. 00:17:00So that's when I got my

first taste of what the military is all about too. I remember, no kidding, I

remember, this actually seriously happened. I just had my haircut. I had hair

back then. It was about this short, it's buzzed, because they told us to. Just

kind of got at orientation was discipline and moving and following orders was

all about on the first day. I remember laying in bed and hearing a scratching

sound, this [making scratching sound], what is that? It was my nub of my hair on

my pillow. I'm going oh what have I got myself into? Then they blew taps. So the

bugler came out and blew taps and I was thinking oh I am in the military now.

What have I got myself into?

Ren: So you didn't do ROTC or anything in high school?

General E: I didn't. Dad was the only one in the military, so my family, my

great-uncles served in Vietnam and things like that.

They were aviators. 00:18:00I didn't truly know that. I knew of them of them. I have

never really full met them, so this is my first military experience[13]. Eyes

wide open. Eyes wide open.

Ren: You mentioned a couple of, you said you had a couple of professors that

were pretty influential in your degree. Where did you live your freshman year,

in what dorm?

General E: I was in Brodie. Then I was in [Rash]. They are no longer there.

We've got beautiful dorms now.

Ren: Yeah, they are really now. My office is Shanks, and that's where VT Stories

is too. Brodie and Rash, okay.

General E: Brodie and Rush and just on the upper quad, so up on the upper quad

is where we lived the whole time. And back then if you remember we also had the

Schultz Dining Hall, and we were all out on that campus, so we would march to

breakfast. We would march to retreat in the evening.

Ren: It's now the Moss Arts Center, right. Schultz is gone, right.

General E: Yeah. But you really wish we had the cafeteria break, because there

was the comradery there when you're 00:19:00getting picked on in your meals as a

freshman or sitting in your company or your squadron back then really made us close.

Ren: I used to go and donate blood in blood drives that they would have in

Schultz and I would always see the cadets dining hall and they would be in there

and things. My office being in Shanks I see the freshman squaring the corners

and all that stuff. I mean you had experience.

General E: Oh yeah.

Ren: Professors that were influential or advisors during your time here?

General E: Yeah, one of them, two of them that really come to mind is John

Hilsen and then Dr. Leon Geyer,[14] Dr. Geyer was a lawyer and an ag...economics

professor. So when I changed my degree from business management into ag business

ag education it was kind of unique at that time, because that's kind of where ag

business fell into was the ag education realm, so I kind of bifurcated into two

worlds. And actually three worlds, because we would take 00:20:00principles of

accounting and then we would take business law and then we would take ag law. So

I wound up having a lot of classes with Dr. Geyer, a lot because of all those

law classes and economic classes that we had to take because it was parallel at

that time.

Ren: Right.

General E: It was kind of just the way the uniqueness of the program was. So I

got to know him, became great friends with him. He may not even remember because

I was one of their students, but I remember him because of his work ethic. He

took care of me. We could have great conversations. A couple of times I played

racquet ball with him[15]. He would stand in the middle and beat me 21 to 1 and

I would be soaked in sweat, but it taught me lessons there. And then Dr. Hilsen

who was part of the ag education program led us through, laid the foundation.

Again, a lot of foundation laying for the Everhart kid here, a lot.

Ren: Right.

General E: 00:21:00Taught us what it's all about to be, and I still use the things he

gives me as far as when I do public speaking how to public speak, how to talk to

kids, how to motivate, how to do leadership. Those things that part of that

whole education program, part of the whole business program still follows

through to me today. Last night I was at a dinner and he said, "Hey, can you

come up and say a couple of words?" Sure. No notes, but I will, and it was

great, not because of what I said, it was great because there again, those

foundations you feel more comfortable doing things like that. And so those two

professors stand out, and they really stand out in my mind. You know you

remember the commandant and Howard M. Lane was a retired inspector general who

has now passed away, he retired and became the commandant. And so you remember

your commandants, you do because you've got to memorize their names.

Ren: Right.

General E: He laid the foundation of where 00:22:00I believe the Corps was heading and

where it is now, and so yeah, those are the folks.

Ren: Right. So through these collection of interviews that we've done for VT

Stories we've interviewed a lot of cadets, and especially in the years prior to

when going into the Corps was mandatory before Marshall Hahn kind of changed it.

General E: We were just talking about that.

Ren: So we hear a lot of stories about the rat year, so I'm sure you have your

own collection of stories and experiences from that first year in the Corps.

General E: Well you know it's new cadet now. As a matter of fact I was picking

on them, "Are you a new cadets or are you a rat? Because back in the old corps

we were rats."

Ren: Yeah.

General E: Of course I don't want to get anybody in trouble. It was a very

unique experience. You get picked on a lot, squaring corners like you talked

about. When you walk you would walk at a brace, so it's a very stiff walk with

your shoulder dragging down the 00:23:00hall. Going to the dining hall was a unique

experience because when you're going through your rat you have to request

permission to sit at the table and you better figure out if it's a junior or

software or senior's table. And if they get up and leave before you are staring

straight ahead, and we were class of '83 so you had to chew your food, "chew

your food" 83 times before you could swallow it. So you wind up being... I was

230 pounds, I still played ball. After that first quarter, because we were on

the quarter system then, I was about 185 pounds because you didn't get to the

gym and you're not eating, because you get in there and you get out as fast as

you can. That's forming up and making sure, because you know the first thing

that happens is early in the morning if you got the duty, you are going to

memorize what the breakfast menu was, you're going to make the call out, which

tells everybody what uniform they need to wear, whether it's cold weather, rainy

weather, whether it's just straight-up. You're already unique because you have

this 00:24:00white belt, so everybody knows who you are as a freshman.

Ren: Oh, okay. Yeah.

General E: So you stand out like a sore thumb. You know your first couple of

months you are actually squaring corners on the upper quad, and once you come

off of the upper quad campus then you can walk like a normal freshman. And so it

teaches you discipline. It teaches you patience. It teaches you intestinal

fortitude and courage.[16][17] But it's also a rite of passage, a rite of

passage, and then you look forward to the time here you become termed. You no

longer become a rat, but you actually become a full-fledged member of the Corps

of Cadets with the privileges of a freshman.

Ren: Right.

General E: And I will never forget, you know, they kind of beat on the door. Oh,

and you've got room inspections. You know, the good thing I really appreciate

about the Corps of Cadets, even in our rat year is that the upper classman

always they took care of you. 00:25:00It was Hotel Squadron at that time and now it's

Hotel Company. That was my family and nobody, they could pick on us, but nobody

else picked on the family.[18] Each one of the companies and each one of the

squadron's is that way. If you had academic problems all you had to do was knock

on the door to an upper classman and they have to mandatorily tutor you to help

you through, and so you had a free tutor. We had quiet hours, so in a certain

amount of time from like 7 to 11 if I remember correctly and then 1 to 4 was

quiet hours in the afternoon, and then again 7 to 11 at night. So when it's

quiet hours the boomboxes aren't going. I'm dating myself. So you had quiet

hours that you could study and you get your uniforms together, so there's a

discipline that gets taught to you there.

Yes, in the morning you come out, in the evening you come out and you get

inspected, and you get dinged. And if you had dust on your shoes or your shirt

tuck wasn't just right or you wasn't proper standards in the 00:26:00Corps, that night

after supper you had to go in and knock on the door to the upper classman who

gave you the infraction and you had to report in. So it's teaching you this

military discipline. It's teaching you a disciplined life that you carry through

with you in academics. You carry through you in a campus life. Unfortunately,

and this is just my point of view, the students who haven't experienced that I

think are missing out. That's the reason why we've got a lot of people who were

Corps only who just come for the discipline. They are not coming in the

military. They are there just to join the Corps because it's like a fraternal

organization and they are there and they wind up building relationships that

carry them through. So yeah, the rat year was a memorable, not pleasurable

experience, but there is a purpose.[19]

Ren: Yeah, right.

General E: There is a purpose and it's changed. It's just changed now because

we're no longer rats, they are new cadets. And it happened on my watch, which is

very interesting, because my senior year as a regimental 00:27:00executive officer, I

was in charge of the new cadet or the rat system.

And it's not fundamentally any different from the other service academies,

[00:27:11] or the Air Force academy or the military academy or the Coast Guard.

I looked at their cadet manuals and the things that they do is about the same

foundation. It's unique because it's tradition and honor[20] that we have

because it makes us separate from Virginia Tech, which is a really good thing.

Ren: When I'm walking in my office in Shanks and I see the new cadets, I was

like I bet they're so tired. That's what I think.

General E: No, no, I was too. Yeah. It's funny because there was times where I

would fall asleep in class because we got up so early and then we went to bed so

late and I had to study study study study. And so I would literally come off to

campus, go to my room and tell my roommate, "I'm going to sleep for 00:28:005 minutes.

Wake me up. I'll get a shirt tuck and then I'm going to go to my class," because

I was falling asleep in my classes. So you actually teach yourself to micro-nap,

which in the military is a beautiful thing, because I still use it today.

Ren: Yeah, a little 15-minute and you're good.

General E: Absolutely.

Ren: Yeah. A couple of questions here, so you graduated in 1983, so you were

here in the late 70s and early 1980s, a lot of these interviews that we've done

we don't have a lot of graduates from the 1980s classes. What kind of things

were happening on campus? Obviously there was a presidential election going into

the Reagan years and things. Do you remember any major events kind of happening

on campus that you can remember during this time?

General E: Yeah. On campus it major public events. It was about a normal

routine. We were watching the Reagan years come up. The 00:29:00things I do remember,

the economy was not the greatest and then things started picking up better.

There were no protests on campus. It was standard college life, so nothing just

boomed out at you. And I will be honest with you, I was trying my best just to

get through college, so I was focused internally. Things on the campus it was

pretty normal. We were building the library, the library was coming up. I do

remember the campus expanding.[21] I was talking to my sister about it. The

whole time we were on the campus they were always building something, which is

good. They were always building something.

Ren: And it's the same today I think.

General E: And it's the same today, so world events, those types of things, of

course we were watching the Soviet Union at that time. We were watching world

events. We watched the shuttle blow-up. That came I think it was a little bit

later that that actually happened.

But it was 00:30:00those things that come to mind, because that also ties into the

military a little bit. But in the four years I was there what I really saw

happen was there again was in the Corps. The Corps went from very very small,

all of a sudden the recruiting went up and it just started opening up and it

started growing[22] and became one of the largest student organizations on

campus, and how does that fit in? And so those types of things, that's the

beauty of this campus also, is that things that happen that you see happening

now on campuses may happen here, but there is at least a discourse that happens

of a conversation so it just doesn't... And I'll tell you, the tragedy that

happened here on this campus has drawn Virginia Tech together. We are Virginia

Tech and that's not cliché. That's what it is.

Ren: I had the honor of interviewing Nikki Giovanni last 00:31:00spring, and obviously

she had a pivotal role. We talked about her and I think as her speech and

everyone on this campus, that event as tragic as it was, I think it really

showed the world what Virginia Tech was really about, how we bonded together and

I think it really made it stronger, yeah.

General E: I'll tell you we were watching it. And I will tell you, if you

fast-forward, I was talking to the Corps of Cadets the other day, if you

fast-forward one of the things I have pride about this campus is that I was in

Afghanistan and I was at the Embassy and I took my Hokie flag, and I put it on

my little... We had a little small balcony if you want to call it that, just a

little rail and I tied my Virginia Tech flag there. And every time you had to go

eat everybody would pass by it and it was on the third or fourth deck stories

up, and there sat the Virginia Tech flag. And so the folks at the Embassy say,

"Hey, who gave you 00:32:00permission to fly the Virginia Tech flag up there? Because

you know everybody can see it." Everybody can see it where we're out in

Afghanistan in Kabul. I said, "Well, nobody did, and I'm not going to ask

permission to either because I don't want the answer." So for a year my Virginia

Tech flag hung up there, and it's just something to remember a little bit of home.[23]

Ren: Wow, even in Afghanistan.

General E: Even in Afghanistan. And I'm telling you a Hokie nation is all over

the world. I had so many people come up and go, "Did you go to Tech? I went to

Tech. What class are you?" I just had a general officer come up to me three days

ago Hokie hi. I went, "Did you go to Tech?" He goes, "Yeah, I was in Charlie

Company in the Corps." He goes, "I was class of '86 and you were the regimental

XO and we were scared of you." I don't see myself in that role, so sorry I...

But no, to answer your question, it was pretty standard at that time. 00:33:00Economy is

growing up, and so people were feeling their way, so nothing extraordinary,

catastrophic or overwhelming happened. It was a great time to be on this

University campus. It really truly was. I think the campus was feeling its way

out. You know one of the great organizations besides the Corps here I was in the

German Club and that helped me through and the social aspects of it and we just

built a [manner?manor] over there, so a lot of history. It was a good time to be

here. You know there was nothing that disrupted the life, and thank goodness,

because I don't know where I would be today if it had. I don't know.

Ren: Outside of just struggling and really trying to graduate from college and

being in the Corps and kind of all that brings, were there any other difficult

experiences that you struggled through or that you had a difficult time with?

General E: No. The biggest thing that I had happen at that time, my grandfather

who I was very close with who 00:34:00kind of led me into aviation, he never served

because he had some medical issues, but he was always fascinating, started

getting a little bit ill in his health. And then he eventually after I graduated

he passed away, but that started happening. So that was a big influencer and

that kind of got you to thinking about things, life in general, those types of

instances. But there again I was very blessed, and so I was looking forward to

going okay, I'm through the Corps. I have not graduated. The next step is I've

got to get through pilot training. And the good news is is that folks who had

been through pilot training were coming back and telling us of those

experiences, so I kind of knew what to expect in that next facet of my life. And

now I'm going to pilot training. I'm entering the military, how does this work?

There again it's because of campus life. There again it's because of things we

had gone through that set us up for success. 00:35:00I'm just not saying that because of

this interview; I'm saying it because it's really really really true. You can go

through any of these interviews and people will probably say the same thing over

and over and over again.

Ren: Right. So once you graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in

agriculture, I wish we had hours and hours to talk about your military career

and your service and the history, so in the class of 1989 you graduated with a

Master of Science degree in business management, from the University of

Arkansas. And then later in 2002 Master of Science degree in national security

strategy from National War College, which I'm going to ask you about here in

just a second. Once you graduated Virginia Tech and you went into flight

school[24] where did your career and your life kind of take you then, and I

guess as a brief synopsis as possible.

General E: Good point, because it's 33 years.

Ren: Right.

General E: So I graduated in '83 and now the way the system was set up I didn't

really come on active duty until 1984. So I worked 00:36:00construction. I had a

construction job that helped me put myself through college, the four years I was

there. I just stayed on construction and then moved down to Columbus,

Mississippi and that's where pilot training was.

Real quickly, pilot training, it is a master's degree that you're going to get

in one year, and it is disciplined, it is rigorous. You learn two weapon

systems. You learn two aircrafts in that year period. And then the first

assignment out of the door and I picked it was C-130s Hercules out of Little

Rock. And went from Little Rock and then was very fortunate, I went to Desert

Shield and Desert Storm, deployed there for almost a year in the Tactics Office

there. We stared an initial cadre of a new facet called the Joint Readiness

Training Center that the military bought up as a joint endeavor with the Army.

Then I was very fortunate to be picked for the initial 00:37:00cadre of our newest

airlifter at that time which was the C-17 Globemaster, into schools, and then

back to flying to commands.[25]

So I have been very fortunate. I have been able to command at the squadron

command level, so as a squadron commander, at the group level, which is a little

bit bigger, then at the wing level so you're running a wing of about 10,000

people twice, a numbered Air Force of about 30 or 40,000 people, and now to top

it all off being able to command at the major command level. I have access to

about 125,000 people that I work with. You know I've done staff assignments at

the air staff at the Pentagon. I had a very fortunate tenure as the military

aide to President Clinton for two years at the White House, and then at National

War College going to school, back to command. I've 00:38:00been overseas, pretty

blessed, because in our area of responsibility and because of my military career

I can honestly say that I've been around the world vertically. I've been around

the world horizontally in my travels in flying. I've been on every continent, so

there again, very very blessed. [26]

Ren: Yeah, absolutely.

General E: Now, we can always go into branches and see all that went on, but

besides the wars, besides Afghanistan, besides things that we did in Bosnia

besides, you know that's part of the military life. That's part of what the

nation calls you to do.

Ren: Right. And your dates of commission, so you're a 4-Star General. That was

in 2015[27], correct?

General E: It was.

Ren: What was that experience like?

General E: Well, things happened so fast. I was a 1-Star down at Air Education &

Training Command at San Antonio. Then I was deployed to Afghanistan for a year,

and the next thing I know I'm in Europe and I'm a 2-Star. Then I get a call 00:39:00right when I'm getting ready to come back and they go, "Hey, you're going to be

a 3-Star." And then I get a call a year later and they said, "You're going to be

a 4-Star."

So really from 1 star to 4 star has been about four years, maybe five. So things

happened really really fast where you can't even take a breath and think about

all this. So pinning on the 4-Star and taking command of Air Mobility Command is

a thing that you will never forget, because our Chief of Staff at the Air Force

was Chief Mark Wells and he came and pinned me on. He goes to a ceremony and he

gives you officially by Congress, now put on the 4-Star and you are appointed.

He did that ceremony. My parents were there and my wife was there and my

grandson was there. My grandson in the middle of my speech, now this is the #1

General in the Air Force, he's sitting there and my grandson gets on stage, he

was 21/2 at that time, with a water bottle and sits beside of General Wells.

We'll I'm trying to do my speech and they are 00:40:00just having like a grandfather

child discussion. I'm going well you know, we can sit here and watch this if we

like rather than listen to me talk.

It was phenomenal, and then to be able to step into command, this command and

the things that we do, what this command does worldwide, delivering hope and

fueling the fight, it's saving lives because that's in my portfolio. I mean

right now my folks are helping out with Maria, right now, got the call. Search

and rescue in Mexico. We're still supporting the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's those things that make it all worth it. You asked me about those

experiences, it's overwhelming. It happens and you're in the office and giddy-up

and go. You ain't got time to think about it. You had better learned your job

and you're going because you're leading, which is what all this has been about

the whole time.[28][29]

Ren: Training, right. A list of awards, Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star

Medal, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal[30]. There's a whole list here. Is

there any award 00:41:00that kind of sticks out and that you're most proud of?

General E: Yeah, you're always proud of your Air Medal because that's what you

do, and I gained that during war. The Bronze Star was fast-forward now 15 years

and that's when I was a commander, so you're commanding in war. It's not that

I'm warmongerer. No. You're trained to serve the nation's call and all that

training comes, it just so happens that the battlefield is where it all comes to

maturity. And so to be able to lead airmen in combat, bring them home safely,

that's the rewarding piece[31].

So those two medals and then the medal in Afghanistan is a unique experience,

because that was one of the first times that I had not gone out just with the

Air Force. I had been in my joint service. What I mean by that, I was with the 00:42:00Army. I was at the Marine Corp. I was with General McChrystal at the ISAF

Headquarters, the security forces, our international security forces. And then I

was at the Embassy with Ambassador Eikenberry, a very unique time.

And I would tell you that there was literally times where I would come and in my

military career I saw a general officer named Ed Reiter who was from North

Carolina. We tried out to play football also at Appalachia, and I said, "Ed, how

are you doing?" And he kind of looked at me. I said, "We were at Commander

General Staff College together," which is a joint school. That man saved my life

twice. Those are the things you remember. Those are what makes it worthwhile. So

the medals, the medals are medals. They are. That's just the achievement that we

did at the time. It's' the experience behind the medal that you will always remember.[32]

Ren: You mentioned you were a military aide to President Clinton. I will not ask

you to discuss politics, but...

General E: I'm A-political.

Ren: Exactly. 00:43:00What was that experience like and just being able to enter that building?

General E: First of all, it was the experience of a lifetime. You don't see, you

don't have the opportunity to see our Commander in Chief, our Chief Exec, and

our Chief Diplomat at that point of contact. Very rarely do people get to do

that. So as a military aide you have a lot of responsibility, so you are

engaging with the President, supporting the office of the Presidency. Just

because I got to know President Clinton, he was the President. I support the

office as a military aide. And so you see how politics works. You see how

policies developed. You see how the budget works. You see how policies developed

around the budget. You see how the nation works diplomatically. You see how the

nation works of what we are trying to achieve at that time, and you see it at

that level.

You meet a lot of people. You meet a lot of people, 00:44:00movie stars, diplomats, you

see the world. It was tough on a family. You're gone 200 days a year or more

just because of the travel schedule, and there are five military aides. There

again, there's five military aides and at that time we called it the

Brotherhood. We would call it the Hood if we had...at that time. There have been

ladies. There's been military aides, it's just there were five males at that time.[33]

Ren: Is that from each branch of the military?

General E: It is, and to include the Coast Guard, so each military branch

including the Department of Transportation and Coast Guard, Homeland Security

now, but very close, very very close. A very unique experience. There again,

it's your training because you've got to be able to think out of the box,

because you never know when the President is going to ask you a question. You

never know when he's going to ask you something about the military, because you

are the person in uniform. He's standing right there beside 00:45:00of you.

It teaches you to think on your feet. It teaches you to think in a big box, but

it also teaches you to think first and then engage, put your mouth in gear,

because you are talking to people who are listening. The family was very kind to

my family, which being raised in the southern mountains of Virginia you go up a

wrung on the ladder. So no matter what you thought about him, you know, there

again, we're supporting the Office of the Presidency, but that helps. It helps

in that two-period and it is just a two-year assignment. It was really really

good, and you learn how all the government works on Capitol Hill versus the

White House, if there is a versus and that's just my term, but also how the

inner agency works, how the military moves into or works with the inner agency,

the State Department, Homeland Security. 00:46:00It was there at that time, but the FBI,

how all that works, so a very unique experience.

Ren: That's fascinating. In 2002 when you graduated from the National War

College[34], the alumni of the War College is a pretty impressive list,

including our current Secretary of Defense and others. I'm just curious, what

was that experience like and attending that college, and knowing the alumni that

kind of came before you?

General E: That's a great question because we were the class of 9-11. 9-11

happened while we were there. I remember we in a lecture. We had gone to our

seminar classes. They said, "Hey, you need to go downstairs to your seminar

rooms. You need to turn on the news and you are sequestered here, you're not

going to move," and I remember watching the towers come down. So it was a very

unique experience and that drove us even closer together. And I'm going to tell

you, my alumni, I see them out all over the place. And there's a unique bonding

there because you go, "Hey, we were at 00:47:00school together," and you can instantly

get things done[35]. It's the bro or broette com or handshake com or picking up

the phone com or whatever, and it's amazing the things that you get done because

it is a close-knit community. And so that 9-11 drove us closer together and then

it even drove us more to serve our nation as it did with all of us. But because

we were sitting right there and then we are like, "Hey, we don't want to be here

at school. We're done. We just saw that happen. We're watching the Pentagon

burnt, we're out." And the school said, "Nice try. You're going to be here with

us a year and you're going to be doing this for a long time, because that's not

going to go away.

Ren: Yeah.

General E: And the speakers, oh my gosh, the guest speakers we had. We had the

service chiefs. We had Colin Powell come and talk to us. We had people who have

retired, so the alumni would come and speak with us. We had the Secretary of

Defense come and talk to us.

Just 00:48:00the speakers and the people who you got to meet that is a, and the campus

is great too because we're also with the Eisenhower, used to be called ICAF, the

Industrial College of the Air Forces, so that was a competition that we had. We

also have athletic events with the competition against each other on the campus,

so the National War College, the National Defense University campus has several

colleges there. So think of the college campus here. Think of the University

here. You've got the College of Education, College of Engineering, College of

Business, same way, we were just part of it. So a historical building, Roosevelt

Hall. Some of it was built a long time ago, a lot of history. It was phenomenal,

it really was, and I would never have...having a chance to go to that school is

a chance of a lifetime, it really is.

Ren: My 10-year-old is in the fifth grade.

General E: Tell him to come to the Air Force.

Ren: Yeah, thinking about it. [Laughs] Because there is probably a shortage, 00:49:00which we will talk about later. He had to do a project on September 11th and he

was kind of talking to my wife and I about it and we kind of talked to him about

it a little bit. It's interesting to see that a lot of children obviously are

learning about this event, and I think about, because I was in high school at

the time. How did, as you were saying, there was almost like a greater

commitment to service after 9-11. As the world changed and I can remember seeing

more American flags outside of homes and there was a more patriotic sense

following that, but how did the military kind of change after that tragic event?

General E: The focus of purpose changed. We had gone from the Soviet Union now

to Russia, the peace benefit. We were watching our adversaries start to

modernize, and then all of a sudden now we're focused on to a single point. And

if you look at how the 00:50:00training is, if you just look at the military, my

military in air mobility command, we've gotten really good about going to that

AOR, air responsibility, really really really good. So the focus became to

terrorism. The focus became to that culture of life, it is a culture that is

trying to do us harm. That's what changed. We're still a global power, we're

just focused on a smaller segment of that global power. That has led us into now

we need to focus back on to the real world again.

So it ebbs and flows, focuses right there to kick some rear end if people want

to do us harm just because they don't like who we are. Which there again, that's

something we Americans don't understand because we're homogenous. Come, come

one, come all. Come and live in America. Come with us, and yet there's people

out there that I don't want to live there, and that's okay. But your beliefs,

just because I don't believe that way doesn't mean 00:51:00 we're...

Ren: Enemies.

General E: Right. And so that kind of opened up, we kind of knew that as all

part of our training, but that really opened up that aperture to say 'oh, okay.'

Ren: Just curious and we will get back to Virginia Tech, can you kind of walk us

through maybe like an average day, if there is an average day in your position?

What time do you wake up and just kind of a normal day in the life of a general?

General E: So in this position I get up at about 4:30 to 4:40, and I get up and

I work out, because I love to eat. In this job if you don't work out you're

going to be big, so I love to eat, so I work out all the time. Justin who is in

the room here with me is my Air Force officer aide and so I'm trying to keep up

with him all the time because he's a young whippersnapper. He's killing me. I go

to the office. I try to get to the office between about 7 and... I used to work

6 to 6. That used to be my normal ethic. I'm a farmer, so when the sun comes up 00:52:00I get up. When the sun goes down I go to bed. I try to get to the office at 7,

between 7 and 7:15. I'm very blessed right now. My grandson has been living with

us. He's 31/2, so he drives me to work as he's driving himself to... I'm

kidding. He goes to school, as he goes to the child development center, to

school, which is like a preschool. And then the meetings start, and then it

depends on the crisis of the day. I will get an update on the briefings. I will

get an intel update, then we start our meetings. We're constantly looking at the

budget. We're looking at plans and programming. We're looking at modernization

of our force. Talking hand in hand with the Air Force a lot. I'm working our

general officer assignments, I do that. And then over on the road and I'm

visiting the wings. I'm visiting my command. I'm trying to feel the heartbeat of

my command, so we will travel on the road just like we've traveled here to

Virginia Tech.

Then I get back 00:53:00Sunday night. We turn right back around Monday night and I head

to the Regional Airliners Conference to talk to them about the pilot shortages

and what we're doing about it, those types of things. So you will have those

meetings. I'm working with industry a lot. We just finished the Air Force

Association where we're getting re-blued and the Air Force is getting direction

from the chief and the secretary. We just had a meal two nights ago with our

general officer staff, Air Force staff, and then the day comes to a close and at

5 o'clock I come home. As soon as the national anthem is done, I watch it, I

will go to 5 o'clock and then I come home, because family time is important, so

I have supper with my family, and then I just relax. It's a set. We're on the

stage 24/7 365, but on Saturdays I just try to, I look at the emails. I [will]

answer the emails, or I try not to answer them, Sunday I will try to do all my

catch-up, so I'm reading all the time, because in our world there again we are everywhere.

Ren: You are reading briefing books, policy 00:54:00papers, everything, right.

General E: And it's something you just get used to. It's part of the job. It's

just what we do, so that's a typical day.

Ren: Awesome. So if someone just simply says the words Virginia Tech what's the

first thing you think of?

General E: My school. My school. I think of Hokie nation. I think of Hokie

pride. I think of we are taking over the world and nobody is better than us.

That's what I think, and I know I'm an alumnus and I'm supposed to think that,

but I think I bleed maroon and orange. It's just everybody feels that way about

their school, they do, but it just pulls, it's just great heart strings that

gets pulled, I mean it really is. And I'm constantly going, "Hey, why did you

pick that school? Why don't you go to Virginia Tech?" so I'm always on the

recruiting end. I just love the school. And there again, it's home for me, I

mean it 00:55:00really is. This whole region is home for me.[36]

Ren: Do you come back a lot to campus?

General E: I have been back for the last, I've been very blessed, I was able to

come back the last three years at that time, because the military it kind of

expands and contracts, and I'm in a contraction period right now. I've been very

fortunate to be able to come back to campus and do some briefings, awards, those

types of things.

Ren: You led the H Squadron onto the field? Was that last year you did that?

General E: That was last year, yeah.

Ren: What was that experience like?

General E: It was great, because it just so happened, about where we turned to

do the national anthem we were pretty close to the 30-40-50-yard line and I

haven't been to a football game since I graduated.

Ren: Oh, goodness. It's a little difference.

General E: Sandman, oh yeah. And all of a sudden I'm bouncing up and down and

the next thing I'm jumping, so it was just... And then seeing the 00:56:00Corps. You

know I wish the Corps was still back on the mid-field. I don't like them at the

end. I want them on the mid-field. And I'm okay with being on the opposing

team's end, because it really makes them think about who we are as Hokie nation,

but it was phenomenal, just phenomenal.

Ren: So, you're talking about recruiting, you're always telling people to come

to Virginia Tech and things like this. What do you see, probably in your area

and your field obviously you're going to see Corps of Cadets, and so what do you

see out of Virginia Tech, people that have graduated from Virginia Tech coming

out of the Corps, maybe into the Air Force or other branches of the military, is

there something special or unique about them that you can kind of pinpoint?

General E: Yeah, I think that, and this is not just the Corps, but it's all for

our service academies because it's what you do for four years, they come in and

they, and it has nothing to do with any other training or we have to get you in

your commission service, but what I see is the 00:57:00talent that I have.

They instantly are up on the step and moving out, and the folks that I'm seeing

graduate now they are ten times smarter than I ever was. It's pretty phenomenal.

And it's just like I told the folks today, talking to these kids, the people in

the Corps right now our nation is in good hands. I don't care what you think

about millennials or whatever the next generation is, our nation is in good

hands. These people have a calling in their heart and they get it. They get it.

I've had the very fortunate opportunity to work with a lot of folks who have

graduated from the Corps at Virginia Tech and come into the military and I will

tell you, we have a lot of general officers now that have come from Virginia

Tech. There's one general officer right now who never even came in the Corps. He

went through Officer Training School, got his commission and now he's a general 00:58:00officer. Pretty remarkable just the foundation that is led by this University,

and so that's what I'm seeing. I'm seeing a very high quality. The quality is

always there, but I see a really high quality of our folks that come out.

[37]It's just amazing.

Ren: Are you involved in anything with Virginia Tech, any alumni boards or

anything like that?

General E: Not boards, but in and out, yeah. I can't really say, but

philanthropic yes. Anytime they ever ask me, "Hey, I need for you to talk here,"

I will be happy to do that. And it has targets of opportunity. So the routine

piece, no, but as I get older in my career and I see my career coming to this

chapter of my life being closed I would, so I'm paid solicitation, I would

welcome those experiences to be more and more involved.

Ren: Right. What changes have you seen throughout your time since you graduated

at Virginia Tech and what do you think about some of 00:59:00those changes if you have

any suggestions or thoughts?

General E: Are you talking about particularly the Corps or campus life here?

Ren: Just anything.

General E: The changes are, the system that I went through, we talked about the

rat system, it's not the new cadet system. It's not the fact that it's better or

worse, it's a fact that it's different. And so what I've learned is that don't

be the first to judge. Walk a mile in that shoe and then look and see the goods

and the bads. The things that I really, Randy Fullhart here has taken on the

historical pieces that have been our foundation since 1872 and he incorporated

them into the upper quad with the new dorms and what he's doing with leadership.

What I really greatly appreciate and where we're really seeing the fruits of our

labor is that when you graduate from Virginia Tech if you take core courses you

get a minor in leadership. You don't know what that means going out 01:00:00there in the military.

Ren: Right.

General E: That really sets a great foundation, so there are some great things

that are happening on this campus. And I think Dr. Sands has got it right, the

campus is moving forward. We are progressively moving forward in a very smart

way. If you look at the world news now some things are going haywire on

campuses. This one is a steady heartbeat, and it's thinking about where it's

going and those are the things I see.[38] It's methodical. It's well

thought-out. It's exactly what you would expect of an institution of this

nature. That's what I see. And then there again, as the campus continues to grow

it's done in a methodical beautiful way, not just buildings, but a methodical

beautiful way of getting where it wants to go with curriculum, quality of

student that we want to have. And frankly, because of that it has become the

envy of, I think my humble opinion, there again, I'm very prideful, I think it's

become the 01:01:00envy of a lot of communities in this nation.

Ren: Right. Awesome. Just a few last questions here. What would you like people

to know about you that maybe folks don't?

General E: I know what people tell me. That's a hard question because I don't

like talking about myself, even though I just did an interview. Here's the

thing, if you're going to do something investigate it, look at it, and go for

it. Have a second [01:01:56 order...branches or sequels] of what you want to do.

And what I mean by that, if I wasn't going to be a pilot maybe I was going to be

a 01:02:00navigator. If I didn't get in the Air Force, I had already taken my test right

over here at a hotel to go to the Marine Corps. So look at the second order

effects. Keep your humility. It's not about you. I greatly appreciate this

interview, but this is not about me. This is about this University. This is

about the way of our life that we have been brought up, and be humble and stay

to your ethics, and so that's what I have tried to do. I've tried to take what

my mother and father taught me, what my family taught me, what my military

career has taught me, and then pay it back.[39] Pay it back, and that's what

I've tried to do is pay it back. And I've tried to keep humility. Sometimes you

get an award and you go, "Oh!" but it's not about you. It's not. It's not about you.

And I would tell you, at least some of the folks have said, "Man you are really

genuine at heart." That's who I am. I don't do this 01:03:00paid stuff, you know, it's

just who I am, so what you see is what you get. That's me. If you don't like it

that's okay, because you can move on to the next door or I can move on the other

way, but this is who I am. I don't try to sugarcoat it. In our world we can

become politicized, but that's just the nature of the business. But humility,

our moral values, that's the foundation that's set to who we are and that's just

me in a nutshell.

Ren: Thank you. What does Virginia Tech mean to you?

General E: What does it mean to me? It means home. It means something that took a boy off a

farm in Virginia and set a 01:04:00foundation for success. It means that I can always

come back here and always be welcome. I can walk on this campus not even in

uniform, people don't care, but they will sure shake your hand and say, "How are

you doing?" It's hometown, and the quality of education, the quality and the

foundations there again, who I was, that's what it means. And so there again,

that's the reason why I waved the Hokie flag in Afghanistan. That's the reason

why, when it's an all-crew on our airplane we're all from Virginia Tech besides

our listed corps, but the front-enders with the pilots are from Tech and we are

all back there getting our picture taken, that's what it's all about. That's

what this place means to me.

Ren: Thank you.[40]

General E: And I will tell you there's not a better University in the State of

Virginia. It is the University of Virginia and it is the University of the

United States. 01:05:00May aide is not going to like that, but that's all right, he's

got his opinion.

Ren: Right. We'll forgive him this time. [Chuckles] I mean to ask you this at

the beginning of the interview, your middle name is Dewey.

General E: Actually it is Dhu, D-h-u, named after my father. Supposedly he was

the...French literature, that's what I was told. I don't know.

Ren: Oh okay, I was thinking George Dewey.

General E: Dewey was actually a nickname that I got through the Air Force after

my first trip where I made a bunch of mistakes and I had to buy a bunch of

beverages of peoples' choice and they couldn't say Carlton after those

beverages, but they could say, "What you do oh Dewey." So I was known as [Delta

Kai Dewey], so that's how it came about.

Ren: Last question, is there anything that I didn't ask you that you thought I

would or if there is anything you would like to say? This is just kind of an

open floor for you to say anything.

General E: I think to close out this chapter of the 01:06:00interview that #1 I greatly

appreciate you and I greatly appreciate this University.

Ren: Thank you.

General E: I greatly appreciate our alumni and I greatly appreciate the students

who actually make the choice to come to this University. I believe what I've

seen since I've graduated and seeing the quality of students, seeing the quality

of the faculty, seeing the quality of the dialect, the openness, even the

tragedy, the things that have brought this campus together and the things that

we're doing, there again, just like I told the young cadets, we're in good

shape. Just from the foundations out of here we're in good shape, we truly are.

And every time I read the alumni magazine and I see what the engineering

students are doing, the technology and hypersonics and what is going on around

the world, what we're doing to agriculture is just phenomenal. We got it right.

You got it 01:07:00right right here in Blacksburg. That's not because I'm an alumnus,

that's it partly because I get the information, but no, you see the fruits of

the labor. You really truly see the fruits of the labor. That's what I'll leave

you with. And anyone out there who ever hears this I tell them come to the

campus, take a look at it, strap it on and enjoy, because it's going to take you

very far in the future.

Ren: One last questions. Can I ask you about your class ring?

General E: Absolutely. That's my pride and joy. I was taking pictures of my

class ring. This is a symbol of what we are at Virginia Tech. And as you know

when we got our class rings it is a big deal and that's designed by the student

body and it's our ring, so I wear it with Hokie pride.[41]

Ren: I need to get mine resized. It goes to about here.

General E: Well you can see I wear it. I've got calluses where I shake hands. At

that time it was a big 01:08:00ring. Now they are even bigger and now they are coming

out and getting a little bit smaller again, but I have people ask me all the

time about this ring. Where did you go to school? And it starts the conversation

and then I get to brag about Virginia Tech.

Ren: Yeah. [Laughs] Thank you so much for sitting down to speak with us with VT

Stories. Thank you for your service to our country. I'm going to close. I

interviewed a gentleman yesterday and he had came in in 1943 and left and came

back. He went and served in World War II and then came back and graduated. I

thanked him for his service and I also asked him about his class ring that he

had had for that long, so it's interesting to kind of link these generations of

Hokies and proud alumnus. I really appreciate it and so I'll say General

Everhart, class of 1983, thank you so much sir. It's very nice meeting you.

General E: Nice meeting you my friend. This has been greats, so thank you.

Ren: Thanks.

bio went to school in Mayberry, NC because Cana, VA was too small grew up on

farm and chose Tech, began with business but switched to agriculture because he

wanted to take care of farm his sister came to VT and after visiting it, he fell

in love four siblings, father a physician, mother a nurse. father was in

military to help pay for school. grandfather introduced him to model airplanes,

getting him interested in flying loved sports in high school, wanted to play

football at VT. was super active in extracurriculars (wrestling, track, key

club, etc) hold tight to honesty and integrity, give your everything in whatever

you do. very close with family and siblings sound clip of lessons learned

growing up? his parents were very supportive of him following his own ambition.

also understanding of him, supportive of whatever happens as long as he does his

best it offered him the chance to get into military flying and gave him a close

knit community to be a part of amongst a big college atmosphere block quote

about picking VT? block quote about VT being like coming home? his first

military experience professors that influenced him Dr. Geyer and him played

racquetball together and became good friends block quote about the Corps the

things you have to live through as a "rat" like squaring corners and the

freshman belt and the brace taught him this stuff - along with his background

has made him who he his today Corps was like a family to him sound clip about

his experience with the Corps? what is added in with the Corps not too much

political activity at the time, actively expanding and building the library grew

rapidly during his time at Tech he flew his Hokie flag in Afghanistan to show

his pride and to remember home after he got his bachelors just explain outright

because I don't know how to summarize this list of things he has been blessed to

do became a 4 star general in 2015 block quote sound clip about being a 4 star

general? . he's proud of his medals, but it was his duty anyways. . being a

military aid for the President was unique and awesome, tough on family, a

bonding experience for the 5 guys . he was in the National War College during

9-11, and that brought his peers and him closer together Everhart has tons of

loyalty for VT, is super proud of the education and campus proud of the quality

of Corps graduates who go into the military block quote about changes throughout

his life and career Everhart has strived to live what his parents taught him:

stay true to ethics, stay humble sound clip of what VT means to him he calls his

ring his "pride and joy" and wears it everyday - enjoys telling people about VT

being his alma mater