The ROTC Building at UT Martin was officially named April 12 in honor of UT Martin alumnus retired Lt. Gen. Dennis D. Cavin.
Cavin graduated from UT Martin in 1970 with a degree in agriculture and was commissioned as a distinguished military graduate in air defense artillery.
During the naming ceremony held adjacent to the building, Cavin expressed his gratitude for the honor.
“It is more than humbling for an old farm boy that grew up not too far from this campus to be standing here today,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by his daughter, Brandie Cole; her husband, Jason; and their two children, Landon and Riley, all of Gallatin, where Cavin lives. Also in attendance were several friends and representatives of the military and from the UT Martin Department of Agriculture, Geoscience and Natural Resources.
A self-proclaimed son of a sharecropper, Cavin told the audience that he did not plan a career in the Army. He said he didn’t even consider going to college until the spring of his senior year in high school.
“I got married as a junior in 1968,” he said. “About six months prior to graduation and getting commissioned in the United States Army, (his late wife) Mary turned to me and said, ‘What’s this Army thing?’ I said, ‘Hon, don’t worry about it. It’s for only two years.’
“I used that line 16 more times over a 34-year career. Like I said, I did not plan to make the Army a career. I stayed. Why did I stay in the Army? Because of people – they’re called soldiers – remarkable soldiers.”
UTM Chancellor Yancy Freeman introduced Cavin to the crowd gathered to honor him.
“Lt. Gen. Cavin is a legend and living proof that UT Martin produces incredible people who do incredible things,” Freeman said. “He represents a community of soaring – I was going to say ‘Skyhawks,’ but I know he was a Pacer – who deeply care about others and give selflessly of his time and resources.”
Cavin served as a career Army air defense artillery officer in short range and high-altitude air defense artillery for more than 20 years. He has served in command and leaderships positions from platoon to Army major commands.
In 1996, Cavin earned his first star in becoming a brigadier general and served as the deputy commanding general and later command general of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center until 2000.
Cavin served as the commanding general of U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky. His final command was as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Accessions Command at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
Cavin was also the architect of several major Army outreach programs, including the U.S. Army High School All-American Bowl football game and the U.S. Army NASCAR and National Hot Rod Association programs connecting the Army to the target recruiting communities.
Cavin joined Lockheed Martin in October 2004 after completing 34 years of Army service.
In 1999, Cavin was honored with UT Martin’s Outstanding Alumni Award, and in 2015, the Nashville Business Journal listed him as one of the initial 22 Outstanding Nashville Veterans.
The Skyhawk Battalion includes ROTC programs at UT Martin, Murray State University, Freed-Hardeman University of Henderson, Bethel University of McKenzie, Lane University, Union University and Jackson State Community College. The battalion consists of 96 cadets this year. The ROTC program was established in September 1952.
For more information about the ROTC program at UT Martin, call recruitment officer Jan Bass at 731-298-1583 or email House at bhouse5@utm.edu.
PHOTO: Retired Lt. Gen. Dennis D. Cabin, a 1970 alumnus of UT Martin, poses by the new sign outside of the university’s ROTC center following the ceremony naming the building in his honor.
