Virginia Guard Officer Candidate School celebrates 58th birthday - April 19, 2016

Officer candidates, graduates and cadre of the Virginia Army National Guard Officer Candidate School celebrate its 58th birthday with a ceremony April 19, 2016, at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s Downtown Campus in Richmond, Virginia. Officer Candidates in Class 58, who are scheduled to graduate in August 2016, organized the ceremony, which included the family of Capt. Harry Q. Rose. Rose, a graduate of Class VIII, was killed in Vietnam in 1969 and remains the only Virginia OCS graduate to have been killed in action. Today the Harry Q. Rose Award is given to a member of each OCS class who has distinguished him or herself in leadership throughout the duration of the program. JSRCC is the original site of the Richmond Howitzers Armory, where the Virginia OCS first mustered April 19, 1958, and graduated May 23, 1959. During the ceremony, leadership of JSRCC unveiled a plaque which will be mounted on campus noting its status as the birthplace of the Virginia Guard OCS.