“Developing Leaders for the Future”

Growing up in Paradise Valley, Arizona, Cal Holman ’79 was interested in military history. On College Day at his high school, Cal’s father took him to visit representatives from his own alma maters, Stanford and Harvard, along with several other Ivy League Schools.

One year later, Cal went to College Day on his own. “I went by the United States Military Academy,” he said. “I was the only one in the room besides the Colonel who was presenting. We had a great conversation.

“I went home and told my parents I was going to West Point,” he continued. “My mom cried. She really wanted me to go to an Ivy League college.” After four years at the Academy, he added, “she was immensely proud of me.”

West Point introduced him to a host of new challenges. One was Russian language studies. “I did awful and had to attend summer school,” he said. Another was snow. Although he had never seen a snowfall before, Cal joined the ski team, which allowed him to sit at Corps Squad tables and avoid the hazing during meals with other plebes.

“When snow finally fell, my skiing skills were put to the test. After an embarrassing fall, I was kicked off the team,” he said, “but I ate well for five months.”

Another challenge was advanced computer science. Because he’d acquired basic computer skills in high school, Cal skipped West Point’s introductory courses and took the handful of electives offered in advanced programming. “There were only a few of us, and we wrote programs for the college mainframe,” he recalled. “I still remember writing a parking lot optimization simulation. Another memory was the day the mainframe operators received a thing called a ‘cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen.’ We were amazed.”

Cal particularly enjoyed the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at West Point, which focuses on teaching small-unit skills. After graduation, he opted to leverage those skills in the Infantry. He attended Airborne and Ranger Schools, where he was an honors graduate. After a tour in the Third Infantry, he was stationed at Ft. Moore in Columbus, Georgia, where he met Virginia Ann Daniel. They were married six months later.

Assigned to the First Infantry division, they moved to Ft. Riley, Kansas. They returned to Columbus after Cal left the Army. Virgina Ann went right back to work for her old employer, but Cal had trouble at first. “I had a minor in chemical engineering,” he said, “and after several job interviews, I learned that I needed not only a major but also a master’s and a Ph.D.”

One interviewer asked him what else he excelled at. His answer launched a lifelong career in information technology. “I said computers,” Cal recalled. “I was sent to a start-up company that moved money electronically for credit cards. I passed the IBM competence exam and was hired as a programmer trainee.”

Thanks to the leadership skills learned at West Point, he moved up quickly through the ranks and ultimately became senior vice president. He went on to hold executive positions in various IT companies, leading technical teams.

In retirement, Cal and Virginia Ann divide their time between homes in North Carolina and Paradise Valley. They are inveterate travelers (32 countries and counting). In 2019, they spent several days at West Point with the Department of Military Instruction (DMI). “We were able to see several aspects of DMI including the Simulation Center,” he said. “We were impressed by the capabilities of the Sim Center and decided to create an endowment for its ongoing support.”

The Cal and Virginia Ann Holman Endowment will be funded with a testamentary gift to support the West Point Simulation Center in the Department of Military Instruction. Because many of its programs are not fully funded by the government, the Holmans’ gift and others like it help keep West Point a leader among institutions of higher education.

“West Point prepared me for leadership, both in the Army and business,” he said. “We take great pride in helping to develop leaders for the future. West Point is always changing, always focusing forward, and it’s satisfying to be part of that evolution.”