UT COE and Athletics Department Team Up to Support Local Troops
Colonel Dennis Adams and
Command Sergeant
Major James Pippin
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of Tennessee College of Engineering (COE) and the UT Athletics Department recently joined forces to show support for the Tennessee National Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. The regiment, headquartered in Knoxville, has been called to active duty for a rotation in Iraq. Commander of the regiment is Colonel Dennis Adams, a 1978 UT graduate and former Vol football player from 1974 to 1977. James Pippin, the Command Sergeant Major of the regiment, is the director of the COE's Engineering Diversity Programs.
The insignia of the 278th was attached to a UT football helmet, which was then was signed by the current UT Volunteer football team and coaching staff. The helmet was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where the 278th is preparing for deployment. Adams and Pippin received the helmet on behalf of the regiment on September 22nd, and it will travel with the unit to Iraq in November 2004.
In an e-mail to the COE, Pippin said, "The helmet came today and wow! I had to guard it with my life. The troops send their thanks."
Jeanne Bean, a principle secretary at UT's Thorton Athletics Student Life Center; Karen Windham, Administrative Aide in the COE's Office of Academic Affairs; Gerry Dickey, Assistant Athletic Director of the UT Football program; and Staff Sergeant Cindy Bayless, a recruiter for the 278th unit, were all part of a coordinated effort to send the helmet to the unit.
For more information, contact Kim Cowart, Communications Manager, (865) 974-0686/kcowart@utk.edu.