The reactivation of three units this semester marks growth for the Corps as well as a renewed connection between former and current cadets.
Ceremonies were held Friday at Sanders Corps of Cadets Center for the reactivation of the Third Regiment as well as Company G-2 and Squadron 11.
Brig. Gen. Joe Ramirez, Corps Commandant and Class of 1979, said with the reactivation of these units, 10 new units have been reactivated in the Corps of Cadets within the past three years
“When I got here, President Loftin gave me one mandate, ‘Grow the Corps to 2,600 by the year 2020,’” Ramirez said. “We’ll start this year with close to 700 more cadets in the Corps than we did when I got here.”
Hunter Heaton, commander of the reactivated Squadron 11, said the reactivation of new units is not only an exciting time for current cadets, but also for parents, friends and former cadets.
“I have gotten to know many of the alumni over the past six months and I am excited to meet some of them for the first time face-to-face,” Heaton said. “The alumni have been incredibly supportive and welcomed us with open arms.”
One of the many former students who attended the ceremony to see his unit reactivated was William H. Gill, Class of 1963 and part of the second graduating class of the original Company G-2.
“I want to do it over,” Gill said. “I want to be 19 and start all over.”
Gill said A&M was still an all-male school and the Corps made up half of the university when he was in Squadron 11. Campus had a different atmosphere back then, Gill said, but he still feels right at home.
“I love being on this campus,” Gill said. “A&M made me. I came here as a young freshman out of high school, an insecure kid. Four years later I thought I was going to be the greatest lieutenant the Army had ever had.”
Fifty-one years have gone by since Gill graduated from Texas A&M, but Gill’s spirit and proud love for the Corps remains. Heaton greatly attributes the successful reactivation process to former cadets like Gill.
“The flood of alumni support has been so special to us,” Heaton said. “I am glad I get to start the process of thanking them because none of it would have been possible without them.”
Ramirez said these additions to the Corps are a great source of pride to the cadets, both current and former.
“By reactivating units with history and tradition that are already a part of Texas A&M, we bring the past and the present together,” Ramirez said.