Military Panelists Enlighten Owls

Thanks to the members of our distinguished alumni panel who answered questions posed by History Instructor Jason Peters ’88 on life in the military. The presentation was generated through the MUS Alumni Veterans Committee, which serves as a resource for the school community to provide education, awareness, and inspiration regarding military service and veteran causes.
Following are brief bios on our panelists:

Cage Carruthers ’76 – Senior Vice President, Stephens, Inc.
After graduating from Ole Miss in 1980, Cage Carruthers attended Navy officer-candidate and logistics schools. He was selected to serve aboard the newest nuclear-powered cruisier, USS Arkansas CGN-41. On its maiden voyage, the Mediterranean Sea deployment in USS Nimitz Carrier Battle Group, he had to cross Libya’s “Line of Death.” Six weeks after returning to the states, the USS Arkansas changed home ports to Naval Air Station Alameda in California. Her next deployment was in USS Enterprise Carrier Battle Group.
 
Carruthers left active duty and entered the NAVAIR for two years with Naval Air Facility Misawa in Japan, going there annually with patrol squadron VP-67’s P-3 Orions, which were used to hunt Soviet submarines out of Vladivostok.

Trevor Benitone ’91 – Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Adams Keegan, Inc. 
Trevor Benitone served 24 years in the U.S. Air Force where he held roles as an MC-130H instructor pilot, special operations staff officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senate liaison officer, and commander in the United States Air Force and United States Special Operations Command.
 
Benitone was a combat pilot earning over 2,500 flying hours and numerous awards and distinctions. His last assignment was commandant of the United States Special Operations School in Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Florida. In this capacity he oversaw classroom training for thousands of next-generation special operations warriors. He was selected for the rank of full colonel, though he retired from active duty in 2015 prior to pin-on.
 
Benitone serves on nomination panels for congressmen Steve Cohen and David Kustoff. Students should contact him if they plan on applying for a service academy nomination so he can work with them on that process.

Christopher Williamson ’06 – Wealth Advisor, Red Door Wealth Management
Christopher Williamson attended MUS in Grades 7-10 and finished at McCallie School. He graduated from Auburn University in 2010 and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2014 as a cryptologic linguist. He trained as a Spanish linguist at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, then was stationed at 2nd Radio Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 2018 he was deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Kearsarge and USS Ft. McHenry. Among his roles, he coordinated and executed signals intelligence operations through six straight transits and named operations in two geographic combatant commands. He left the Marines as a sergeant in 2019.

John Reinhardt ’07 – 164th Logistics Readiness Squadron Commander, Tennessee Air National Guard
A career logistics officer, John Reinhardt is a 2011 graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program and University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also earned a Master of Science in administration at Central Michigan University.

Reinhardt deployed to Erbil Air Base, Iraq, serving as the aerial port team commander in direct support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He also deployed to the CENTCOM operation center in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, as a joint operation planning and execution system manager. As commander of the 164th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 164th Airlift Wing in Memphis, he leads a diverse team of logisticians who support rapid global mobility for federal and state missions. The team manages all logistics, including all wing deployment operations, ground and air transportation, vehicle fleet maintenance, fuels, aircraft parts, and individual protective equipment for 1,000 airmen.

Alumni military veterans gather after the chapel presentation, in front, Swift Treadwell ’68, McClain Gordon ’67, Cage Carruthers ’76, John Reinhardt ’07, Mike Webster ’71; back, Andy McArtor ’86, Trevor Benitone ’91, David Malone ’75, and Christopher Williamson ’06.
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