Competing in the Competition on the Law of Armed Conflict are (front, from left) Cadets Hannah White ’24, Devin Thomas ’24, Gabriele Woodward ’24, (back, left) Maj. Tim Passmore, Ph.D., Caleb Evans ’24, Pierce Harvey ’24, and Michael Menton ’24.—Photo courtesy VMI Communications & Marketing.
Over the spring semester, a number of VMI cadets marked noteworthy achievements, many as a result of participation on academic teams and in club sports. Below are just a few highlights of cadets’ recent achievements.
VMI cadets walked away with five awards—the most received by any academy at the competition—as they competed against 25 military academies from around the world in the annual Competition on the Law of Armed Conflict in Sanremo, Italy, hosted by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, in March 2024. Six VMI cadets were out of more than 100 participants who spent a week diving into war simulations where they had to advise on the legality of decisions given by their commanders. Each participated in mixed teams alongside two cadets from another academy.
Cadet Hannah White ’24 won a silver award in the individual category, and four cadets won awards in the team category: Cadet Devin Thomas ’24 won gold; Cadet Michael Menton ’24 won silver; Cadet Gabriele Woodward ’24 won bronze; and White won bronze.
Cadets are chosen for the competition after completing a course on the law of armed conflict with Maj. Tim Passmore, Ph.D., assistant professor of international studies, and they then receive additional training and preparation as a team before the competition.
To learn more about the international law team’s accomplishments, click here.
Cadets Kenneth Dinkel ’25 and Alex Bodner ’26, first-place winners of the two-person team match, are flanked by second-place winners, Cadets Paul Doty ’26 and Colin Russell ’26, and third-place winners, Carter Hugate ’24 and
Garret Kelenske ’24.
The VMI combat shooting club team, coached by Paul Lahah, outperformed the competition at the 2024 ROTC College Clash Marksmanship Competition, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia, April 19–21, 2024.
The match included 59 ROTC cadets from six schools, including George Mason University, James Madison University, Liberty University, Radford University, Virginia Tech, and VMI. Over the course of the competition, shooters tested their marksmanship skills on both rifle and pistol and competed as individuals in matches called combat excellence in competition and as two-person teams in matches called cold steel combat shooting course of fire, which were tallied for a final aggregate score.
For individual pistol, winners were Cadet Kenneth Dinkel ’25, first place; Cadet Alex Bodner ’26, second place; and Cadet Cameron West ’25, third. For individual rifle, winners were Cadet Paul Doty ’26, first place; Dinkel, second place; and Cadet Jayedon Creach ’27, third. In the two-person team match, Dinkel and Bodner came in first, Doty and Cadet Colin Russell ’26 came in second, and Cadets Garret Kelenske ’24 and Carter Hugate ’24 came in third.
In addition, 12 badges were awarded at the competition, with VMI receiving nine. Doty, Russell, and Hugate each earned combat EIC pistol and rifle badges, West earned a combat EIC pistol badge, and Dinkel and Creach each earned a combat EIC rifle badge.
To learn more about the combat shooting club’s victories, click here.
Cadets Jamie Palacio ’27, Kate Patrick ’27, Jacob Cook ’26, Chris Olsen ’25, and Parker Hall ’24 gather before competing in the National Collegiate Pistol Championship.—Photo courtesy Reese McCormick.
The VMI pistol club competed in the National Collegiate Pistol Championship held at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning) Army post near Columbus, Georgia, in late March. The VMI contingent consisted of a team of four shooters, Cadets Parker Hall ’24, Chris Olsen ’25, Jacob Cook ’26, and Kate Patrick ’27, with Jamie Palacio ’27 competing in individual. The club held a national rank of 11th place going into the competition.
Fifteen schools were represented at the championship, with 89 shooters competing, made up of 69 men and 20 women. The competition consisted of 60 shots fired in three different shooting disciplines: air pistol, sport pistol, and standard pistol, for a total of 180 shots fired. VMI came in 10th place for air pistol, 8th place for sport pistol, and 10th place for standard pistol. The team finished the competition in 10th place, improving their national ranking.
To learn more about the pistol club’s performance in the national championship, click here.
Editor's Note: Story originally published by Virginia Military Institute.
Editor's Note: Story originally published by Virginia Military Institute.
