LEXINGTON, Va. April 11, 2024 — Virginia Military Institute has announced the speakers who will address the Class of 2024 in May. Gen. James C. Slife, vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force will address cadets beginning their journey of military service at the joint commissioning ceremony, Wednesday, May 15 in Cameron Hall, and former secretary of the U.S. Army, Ryan D. McCarthy ’96, will speak to the graduating cadets at commencement exercises the following day.

McCarthy, who is a VMI alumnus, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and immediately commissioned into the Army, where he was involved in combat operations in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 75^th Ranger Regiment, U.S. Special Operations Command. He was sworn in as the 24^th secretary of the Army in 2019 under President Trump, and served as under secretary of the Army for two years prior to that. He worked for Lockheed Martin in successive vice president roles responsible for the sustainment, customer solutions, and program integration of the F-35 Joint Strike fighter program and the company’s global security policy. Before that, he served as special assistant to the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, under Presidents Bush and Obama. He also served as a professional staff member in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations. McCarthy holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Slife holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Auburn University in Alabama, where he commissioned into the Air Force through the ROTC program. He has spent the bulk of his career in special operations aviation assignments, deploying extensively around the world. Additional degrees he holds include a Master of Aerospace Science, Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, and a Master of Administrative Science, Organizational Management, The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of multiple awards and decorations including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and the Combat Action Medal. He was named Air Force Special Operations Command Pilot of the Year in 1998, and Major General John R. Alison Special Operations Educator of the Year in 2008.

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