June 1960 ~  The summer of 1960 would be the first year for ASC cadets to attend advanced camp at Fort Hood, the Corps wanted to enter Fort Hood with a fireball approach. 16 of the 28 cadets from ASC would road march an unprecedented 160 miles in four days to begin advanced camp.

        During the spring, cadets trained hard and road marched long miles to physically prepare them for the march to Fort Hood.  On June 11, 1960, CPT Latham and 16 hard-charging cadets started the march to Fort Hood.  With only the loss of two cadets, the ASC men on the fourth day marched proudly through the gates of Fort Hood.  They were met by a welcoming party to include Commanding General Edward Farrand.  When they arrived, General Farrand said, "I admire you for your intestinal fortitude. You look very healthy and happy.  I am glad that we still have Americans who can walk on their own feet."

         COL (Ret) Joel Ward recalls, "The road march to Fort Hood gave me a test of endurance that I will never forget."  Ward remembers "that at advanced camp the word was out to watch out for the ASC men."  In fact, some of the cadre were somewhat intimidated by the gaunt, mean look of the ASC men marching through the gates of Fort Hood.  Of the 28 cadets attending camp that summer, 19 were recommended for Distinguished Military Graduate, which says a lot about the entire training program at ASC."

         March 2010 ~ On March 13, 2010, 43 cadets with cadre from the University of Texas at Arlington honored the 1960 marchers by beginning a 126 -mile march from Arlington to North Fort Hood which would last over the course of five days.

        "There is so much tradition in the Army of honoring our past and especially our past leaders, whose footsteps we are following because that's what we're all trying to be: we're trying to be leaders," Cadet/LTC Erik McCaffery, 107th Maverick Battalion said, early the morning of March 17th after arriving at the end point at Fort Hood.

        People in towns and cities along the marchers' route provided encouragement. In Clifton, city residents lined the streets to cheer the marchers. Four fire trucks accompanied them and, rather than a bivouac in a pup tent pitched in a cow pasture, the high school was opened over night.

        In Keene, marchers were treated to a pasta with meat sauce dinner and at Hay Valley Baptist Church in Turnersville they were served a Mexican dinner with dessert.

       Accompanying the younger men and women, two participants in the 1960 long march, MG (Ret) Will Latham and COL (Ret) Joe Ward, provided inspiration. On the first day of the march, wearing Vietnam-era combat boots and field gear, Latham completed more than 26 of the 33 miles covered. Hampered by blood blisters on his big toes, Ward stopped at the 17-mile mark.

       An organizer of the march, Cadet Richard Ramos, said of Latham's march, "That was one of the most inspiring things of this march. A lot of cadets were saying, 'Well, if he's 82 and still marching, I'm still marching.' Our mission was to honor the legacy and conduct the march with the same pride and honor of the original cadets and I believe we accomplished that with no failures; we had everything planned and had no injuries, no dehydration. I don't think it could have gone any better."  

      After being transported to North Fort Hood, they waited to welcome the arrival of the marching cadets with Canadian Brig. Gen. Peter Atkinson and a contingent of other soldiers and family members, Latham and Ward recounted their original journey. Ward recounted a painful parallel between the results of the original march and its commemorative version.

     Despite wearing admittedly "lighter and more comfortable" modern Army boots this time, he acknowledged, "The doctors told me, just as they had 50 years ago, I was losing my two big toenails. You would think I would learn."  Ward added, "We are very honored and glad they did this. But they are the heroes. ... And these young men today are more awesome than we ever were."

      Of a total of 43 marchers, about 35 strode through the gate just before noon March 17 at North Fort Hood, singing a Mavericks marching song. 

      LTC Albert Alba, Professor of Military Science, gave the welcome address.  "I can tell you that 126 miles ago we embarked upon a very long march. It was called the Long March back in 1960. It has been a test of endurance and sometimes a test of patience. But what is standing in front of you today," Alba said, "are men and women who are really a band of brothers and sisters. It has been a privilege to have gone through this journey with them."

 
     Each cadet who finished at least 24 miles of the march was presented with a Stetson cavalry hat and spurs.   Nine cadets, 'the Crazy Nine', completed the entire 126-miles of the march.