Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumna 2nd Lt. Tavia (Cawley) Carlson, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in civil engineering from the College of Engineering and a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2010 has been selected as the Hokie Hero for the Virginia Tech versus East Carolina University game.

The Corps of Cadets Hokie Hero program started in 2006 by IMG College and sponsored by the University Bookstore, honors Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni who are currently deployed. Recipients of this honor are highlighted by Bill Roth and Mike Burnop during the radio broadcast of Virginia Tech football games, on the Corps of Cadets website, on the Corps of Cadets alumni website and in the Corps Review magazine.

Carlson is currently stationed in the Middle East as a member of the 405th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron. She serves as the Civil Engineering Operations Flight Commander, providing infrastructure and facilities necessary to support the U.S. and coalition forces in the region. She is from Winchester, Va., and this is her first combat deployment.  

Carlson is a Class of 2009 graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and was the Kilo Battery Executive Officer and the Golf Company Commander during her senior year. She says she would like to send her love to her husband 2nd Lt. James Carlson, U.S. Air Force, a Corps of Cadets graduate from the Class of 2010, who earned a degree in political science from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2010; to her parents; family; and her sisters in Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority.

For three years of her Corps of Cadets experience, Carlson was the recipient of the Patty and Rock Roszak Cadet Scholarship. The corps’ Emerging Leader Scholarship program is one of the largest scholarship programs at the university, paying out about $1.5 million each year to recipient cadets.

Below is the previous Hokie Hero from the 2011-2012 season.

  • Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus 2nd Lt. Mark Walczyk, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in political science and a minor in English from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2010
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