Virginia Tech Naval ROTC Commander named Marshall game Hokie Hero
Capt. Dan Forney, U.S. Navy, professor of naval science and commander of the Naval ROTC unit at Virginia Tech, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, has been selected as the Hokie Hero for the Virginia Tech versus Marshall University game.
The Virginia Tech 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.
Forney is currently deployed to Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. He is from Radford, Va., and has been a Virginia Tech Hokie since 2009. Forney is a career submarine officer with over 28 years active service and is on his ninth overseas deployment.
While deployed he is serving as Commander of the Naval Forces Central Command detachment Afghanistan and is responsible for the well-being of over 2300 deployed Navy sailors. His son Richard is a Navy construction engineer who is also deployed to Afghanistan. Forney says he would like to send his sincere thanks to his wife Deborah and their children Mariah, Richard, and Peter for their continued love and support, and to the entire 'Hokie Nation' for their support of the men and women serving our country.
Forney is the first Hokie Hero spotlighted who is not a graduate of Virginia Tech. His assignment to Virginia Tech is likely his last career assignment, but instead of just completing his ROTC tour he says he volunteered to leave campus because the country needs its citizens to step forward in a time of war. The Corps of Cadets has been producing citizens like this for 139 years and the War Memorial lists 426 Hokies who have made the ultimate sacrifice, many of whom left campus before their expected time to answer our nation’s call.
Below are the previous Hokie Heroes from the 2011-12 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,
- 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 2009 and
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Lt.Col. Tom Whitlock, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in geography from the College of Natural Resources and Environment and a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 1995.
