U.Va. Cadet Aimee Moores Receives Marshall Award

U.S. Army Cadet Maj. Aimee Moores, 21, of the University of Virginia Army ROTC Program, has been awarded the Gen. George C. Marshall Award for the Cavalier Battalion for 2013.

Moores, of Gaithersburg, Md., is a fourth-year pre-med mathematics major in the College of Arts & Sciences, as well as the battalion executive officer in her ROTC program.

Moores was chosen above all other fourth-year cadets at both U.Va. and Liberty University, which shares the Army ROTC program. She has also been selected to attend the Marshall Seminar at Virginia Military Institute in April, which focuses this year on international relations and foreign affairs. The award is based on cadets’ grade-point averages, physical fitness, leadership capabilities and extracurricular activities.

“I'm extremely honored to have received the award and to have the chance to attend the conference in April,” Moores said. “I think the real benefit will come from the opportunity to interact with both peers from other ROTC programs who hope to make a difference in their branches and senior officers who have already done so.”

Moores plans to be a doctor, following in the steps of her parents, who are both physicians and colonels in the U.S. Army. She has been accepted to the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

“It boils down to the love of working with people, the fascination with the subject material, most importantly, the fact that I’ve seen the ins and outs of the medical world through watching my parents and understand just how rewarding the profession can be,” she said.

Moores, from Gaiuthersburg, Md., has been highly successful as a cadet, having ranked fourth in the Order of Merit List, which ranks all 5,579 Army cadets in ROTC program across the country. Moores and fellow U.Va. Cadet Joseph Riley, who was recently named a Rhodes Scholar, both ranked in the top 10.

Moores participated in the Ranger Challenge during the fall semester of her first two years of ROTC, which entailed being part of a nine-member team that competed in various military skills against about 40 other schools on the East Coast.

“Outside of ROTC, my main commitment is with U.Va.'s Triathlon team, which I joined during my second year,” she said. “I also play violin and viola and I have participated in several of the chamber groups here and in a couple quartet gigs on Grounds and in the Charlottesville area.”

Lt. Col. Michael Binetti, commander of the ROTC program, praised her work and her contribution to the ROTC program through her work as the cadet battalion executive officer, giving her duties akin to a chief of staff, including organizing weekly leadership labs and oversight of battalion staff sections.

“Moores is a tremendous asset to the program and a true joy to work with,” Binetti said. “She is intelligent, compassionate and is willing to tactfully disagree, all of which are important qualities for both an Army officer and a doctor. Her hard work at U.Va. and her dedication to Army ROTC will leave a lasting legacy.”

In November 1976, Gen. Bernard Rogers, then Army chief of staff, and Marshall Foundation lifetime trustee retired Gen. Maxwell Taylor agreed to “the establishment of an annual George C. Marshall Award for outstanding members of the Army ROTC.” One is awarded at each of the 273 battalions across the U.S.