President’s Message

Greetings! We have been very busy with planning discussions and our late-summer and fall events – Fall Orientation in August and the popular Welcome Back gathering in September, when we cook and serve jambalaya for The Corps and the Cadre. Both events were very successful.

We are marching at an active pace toward LSU Salutes, scheduled for the weekend of November 1-3. You will be receiving registration materials soon, and we ask that you return your form(s) as soon as possible. We look forward to having as many of you as possible join us for this special weekend and for the induction of our four new Hall of Honor recipients. The Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, immediately following the Commandant’s Luncheon.

Many exciting developments have occurred within the LSU Military Excellence Commission, and plans are moving forward as quickly as possible. As many of you know, Jerry Campbell was approved as the architect for the renovation and restoration of Memorial Tower, and we are honored to be working with him. He was also the architect for the Veterans Student Center which opened last December. We are anticipating a “Formal Grand Opening” of the LSU Military Museum during LSU Salutes in November 2020.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at cadets@lsu.edu or call 225-578-0420.

For the Long Purple Line . . .
John W. Milazzo, Jr.
President

2018 Hall of Honor Inductees

Congratulations to the 2018 inductees Hall of Honor for Distinguished LSU Military Alumni:

1LT Christopher W. Barnett*

Ben R. Franklin, III

LTC Robert L. Freshley, Sr.

Col Albert W. Perez

*Deceased

Fall Orientation

On hand for the opening session were, left to right, MG Hunt Downer, MG Skip Philips, Richard Lipsey, Maj Gen Ron Richard, and CAPT Dean Rawls, Navy ROTC Commander at Southern University.

Junior and senior Cadets and Midshipmen and members of Cadets of the Ole War Skule join new members to brainstorm topics of interest.

Members of the Leadership Panel were, left to right, 2nd Lt Zachary Spears, 2018 graduate and USMC commissionee; Senior MIDN Renée Hill; Senior MIDN and LSU Corps Commander Jacob Holl; Senior Air Force Cadet Jesse St. Clergy; and Senior Army Cadet Maria Chavez, representing Senior Cadet David Kelley.

Fall Orientation informs and educates Cadets and Midshipmen – the future of “the Long Purple Line” – about the rich legacy of LSU's military history. The program establishes the foundation for a strong relationship that will survive long after the young men and women in LSU ROTC have commissioned and graduated. Photos by Ray Dry.

Senior Symposium 2018

Retired Marine Corps Lt Col Kurt Strange addresses the Senior Symposium Class of 2018-2019 on the topic “Working Effectively with All Service Branches.”

Senior Army and Air Force Cadets and Navy Midshipmen selected for Senior Symposium kicked off the 2018-2019 session in August. The year-long program prepares future officers for leadership assignments and responsibilities after commissioning.

Welcome Back

Left: As Junior Air Force Cadet Jack Spriggs stirs the pot of jambalaya during the Welcome Back, Cadets of the Ole War Skule President John W. Milazzo, Jr. explains the process to the new Professor of Aerospace Studies and Commandant, Lt Col Evan T. Scaggs.
Right: Army Cadet Jacob Pikul, a junior from Milton, Vt., picks up his plate of jambalaya and visits with one of the Cadets of the Ole War Skule volunteers during the Welcome Back.

Cadets of the Ole War Skule prepared and served a jambalaya dinner to returning members of the LSU Corps of Cadets and Cadre to welcome them back to campus in September. The annual event provides a venue for seasoned veterans and alumni to visit with the young men and women who will carry LSU’s military legacy into the future. Photos by Ray Dry.

From Our Readers

9/11. We all remember! I was on the way to work listening to my car radio when the first plane hit the WTC. I told my wife that it was a terrorist attack. I had no idea that other plane attacks were to follow and the losses and tragedies would be so paramount.

I was scheduled to fly to Chicago the next day to conduct an Article 32 hearing. Following the hearing, I was scheduled to fly to Egypt for an exercise. As flights were cancelled, my wife and I drove to Chicago. I conducted the Article 32 hearing and spent the entire weekend listening and watching the recovery operations and thinking about what was next for the nation and our service members. I was on one of the first flights out of Chicago O’Hare bound for Cairo once flights resumed. It was a very surreal moment when my wife dropped me off at O’Hare, neither of us knowing when or if I would return. I do remember upon arrival in Egypt how difficult it was to discuss and explain to our soldiers what had occurred on 9/11. The scope, tragedies, losses, and what next for our nation and the world were continual discussions during the exercise.

I did subsequently return home only to redeploy with Third Army for two years in support of OEF and OIF. Just another story, but “We will never forget.”

COL (R) Gerald Fontenot

Cadets Celestial

COL Louis Greenwood Cancienne, September 2, 2018, Baton Rouge, La. COL Cancienne, an LSU graduate and retired Professor of Military Science and Commandant, was a life member of Cadets of the Ole War Skule and a 2005 Hall of Honor inductee

Fall 2018