The '''Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets''' ('''VTCC''') is the military component of the student body at [[Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]]. Cadets live together in dormitories, march to meals in formation, wear a distinctive uniform on campus, and receive an intensive military and leadership educational experience similar to that available at the [[w:United States service academies|Service Academies]]. The Corps of Cadets has existed from the founding of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1872 to the present-day institution of Virginia Tech, which is designated a [[w:senior military college|senior military college]] by federal law.<ref>Harry Downing Temple 'The Bugle's Echo A Chronology of Cadet Life at the Military College at Blacksburg, VA', The Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Volume I 1872-1900 Date: 1998</ref>