The Caldwell March is named after Addison Caldwell, who walked to enroll as the first student at Virginia Agriculture and Mechanical College (V.A.M.C.) (Virginia Tech). The march commemorates Addison's historic journey and is broken into two hikes. The fall hike begins at the Caldwell Homestead in Craig County and loosely follows the original hike along parts of the Appalachian Trail, before ending at a park named after the Caldwell brothers, "Caldwell fields". Homer Hickam, a former cadet, and co-creator of Skipper sometimes joins the cadets on this momentous hike. The successful completion of the fall hike marks the end of the red phase for the first year cadets.