Corps Is A Tradition For Blueitt Family

Texas A&M University’s Corps of Cadets has been an integral part of the school since its founding in 1876, and its tradition of military service and love of country seems to have found a home for the Blueitt family of San Antonio – in a true gung-ho, swift salute way.

The husband-and-wife team of Odis and Pauletta Blueitt were both members of the corps at Texas A&M, Pauletta graduating in 1981 and Odis in 1982, and a corps-related marriage was particularly rare at the time they graduated. Even more rare is for the daughter of a corps couple to follow in their footsteps. Their daughter Brawnlyn has done exactly that. She is finishing up her first semester as a freshman – or “fish” as first-year cadets are known at Texas A&M – and she, too, is planning a military career.

This is one family that is a walking, talking corps recruiting poster.

“Never in a million years did I dream that Brawnlyn would want to join the Corps of Cadets,” recalls Pauletta of their middle daughter’s decision.

“She said she wanted to go to A&M, which we expected, but the corps part was a total shock to us. But the more she learned about it, the more she wanted in. Odis and I never tried to steer her in that direction, but she’s in, and we could not be happier.”

Brawnlyn says it did not take much of a push to get her interested in the Corps of Cadets. On a visit to Texas A&M, she met many cadets, walked around the Quad corps housing and within an hour or so, “I was totally hooked. I mean, I was ready to join right then and there.”

“I love the discipline of it, the way being in the corps forces you to manage your time correctly,” she notes. “But most of all, I like the buddy system here. We’re all brothers and sisters in the corps. You depend on others, and in turn, they depend on you.”

“When you’re in the corps, you’re part of something that is as old as the school itself. It’s a place where leaders are made and real-life values are honored. Best of all is that you know you are part of something that is bigger than yourself.”

Pauletta entered Texas A&M in 1977 when few women chose to join the corps. “I think there were about 60 women cadets at the time I was there,” she recalls. “We all seemed to fit right in.”

“I met my husband (Odis) there, and he graduated the year after I did, in 1982. I very much wanted a military career.”

She served in the Air Force for 29 years and recently retired as a colonel. Odis also maintained his military ties, becoming a colonel in the Army Reserves where he has served the past 28 years while also pursuing a career with Lockheed-Martin. He started his collegiate career with a football scholarship to West Point before transferring to Texas A&M.

The military bug has yet to hit the couple’s other two daughters. Brittany, 24, is attending Harvard Law School while 13-year-old Briana is a middle schooler in San Antonio.

In true Armed Forces fashion, Brawnlyn has given herself orders to follow to a T: she expects to graduate from Texas A&M in 2013 with a degree in computer science, and then join the Air Force, with which she is already connected by contract (much like a scholarship). From there, her military career will begin.

“I’ve been around the military all my life, but I didn’t know until recently it’s where I want to spend the rest of my life,” she says.

“I was frequently at Randolph (Air Force Base), where my mom worked, and I seemed to like the structured way of things, the sense of order. Now that I’m in the corps, I feel stronger than ever that this is the life for me. I feel like I belong here. For me, it’s home.”