Three Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni will share their military and work experiences and leadership challenges with cadets through the annual Gunfighter Panel on Sept. 15.

The panel is part of the Leaders in Action lecture series hosted each semester by the corps and its Rice Center for Leader Development. Alumni aim to inspire and educate cadets by discussing their lessons learned and how their corps experiences prepared them for life after college.

This year’s speakers are the following:

  • U.S. Navy Capt. Douglas Beaver earned a degree in political science from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 1991 and his executive master of business administration from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2014. Beaver, an E2-C Hawkeye pilot, is currently the commanding officer of the Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base. Throughout his career, Beaver has accumulated more than 2,900 flight hours in 10 aircraft types
  • U.S. Air Force Capt. Amanda (McGrath) Miller earned a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and a minor in leadership studies from the Rice Center in 2012. She is assigned to the 4th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. She a flight commander overseeing a team of 70 that works with the 94 F-15Es and 16 KC-135s within the 4th Fighter Wing and 916th Air Refueling Wing.
  • Virginia State Police Trooper Derek Stotler earned a degree in psychology from the College of Science and a minor in leadership studies from the Rice Center in 2013. After graduation, he spent a year as an assistant special education teacher for elementary children before attending the Virginia State Police Academy, where he was elected president of his 80-person class. He is currently stationed in Northern Virginia.

The panel is at 3:30 p.m., Sept. 15, in Burruss Hall Auditorium, 800 Drillfield Drive. It is the first of many events for Corps Homecoming, Sept. 16-17.

The Gunfighter Panel started in 2004, when the United States entered combat in Iraq and brought the increased potential for cadets to be in combat shortly after graduation. The series evolved to help prepare cadets for their future in an uncertain world, said Col. Patience Larkin, the corps’ alumni director.

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