Texas A&M fans follow along with the Aggie War Hymn during the game against Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday. Arkansas won 20-10.Â
Texas A&M players, including Donell Harris Jr. (18), enter the field before game action against Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday. Arkansas won 20-10.
Members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets follow along with the Aggie War Hymn before Saturday's game against Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band performs at halftime during a game between Texas A&M and Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday.
Members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets take part in the Aggie War Hymn during game action between Texas A&M and Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday. Arkansas won 20-10.
Members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets react near the end of Saturday's 20-10 loss to Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Col. Bryon Stebbins was in Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets back in the 1970s, but he can still remember in detail trying to get back to his hometown of Dickinson via a Greyhound bus during a Corps Trip to Houston.
Now interim commandant for the Corps, Stebbins said he’s seen the other side of a Corps Trip operation as almost 2,100 cadets made their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area this weekend for Texas A&M’s game against Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, which the Razorbacks won 20-10.
“It’s an event that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives,” Stebbins said. “I remember mine, a couple of them, like they were yesterday.”
The parents of A&M’s current Corps Commander, Connor Fortier, reside in Flower Mound, meaning Fortier’s family played host to him and eight others, who crashed on couches and cots.
“One of the great parts about the Corps trip and the most fun parts … is usually there’s only a few people you might know that live in Dallas or are from the Dallas area, so one of them is me,” Fortier said. “I’m going to take all my buddies and host them at my house and have a big dinner and a big get-together and hangout. That’s fun cramming into one house and hanging with all of your friends.”
For the first time in over five years, A&M’s Corps of Cadets held a march-in through downtown Fort Worth. Step off was at 9 a.m. with cadets starting the 1-plus mile march at the Fort Worth Convention Center, walking north and in front of the Tarrant County courthouse before heading south through Sundance Square and ending up back at the convention center. All key components of the Corps were present, including the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band and Parson’s Mounted Cavalry.
Since Saturday’s march-in was slightly longer than the marches before home football games, Fortier said it was good the Corps had two march-ins under its belt this season before going to the “big show” in Fort Worth.
“March-in is already intimidating, at least your first couple ones, when you do it,” Fortier said. “And even for me, being in front is pretty intimidating the first couple of times. And then you put that in a bigger city, a special event with a lot more people, and that can kind of raise the stakes even more.”
Fortier said the Corps’ juniors and seniors have made previous trips to Metroplex, but none had taken part in a march-in in the area, which was a bigger logistical piece. He added that the operations team was adaptable, especially after going through challenges related to COVID-19.
One difference was transporting the Aggie Band. While most Corps members traveled to the Metroplex on Friday, the band had a 4:30 a.m. departure from College Station on Saturday morning so they could travel together.
During march-in, the band played its “big four”: the Aggie War Hymn, the Noble Men of Kyle, Patton and the Ballad of the Green Berets. With a longer march-in, each song was separated by a cadence from the band’s drummers to give other band members a short break from playing.
Once march-in was finished, the band loaded back up into charter buses and drove straight to AT&T Stadium. The Aggie Band performed at halftime and had formed the bottom section of where Corps members sat in the first three levels in the corner of the A&M end zone.
Performing at halftime this season has been amazing, Aggie Band combined band commander Jacob Abell said. The band was limited to recorded halftime drills last season due to the pandemic.
“Even for the people who haven’t done it before, like the freshmen, their senior year of high school they didn’t get to perform with them either,” Abell said. “They came this year super motivated and excited to be a part of something. We’ve had good retention in the band this year just because everyone’s so happy to be able to perform and do what the Aggie Band does.”
Corps Trips date back over 100 years, Stebbins said, adding it can be a good challenge for young adults learning to travel to places on their own.
“They’re young and so you guys can figure out how to get to Fort Worth or Dallas,” Stebbins said. “Figure it out. You’re 18 or 19 years old. It’s not that hard. But it’s one of those things that they’ve never had to figure out.”
