For more information, contact:                                             
Andi Atkinson, Director of Marketing & Public Relations
956.421.9235                                                                          

November 1, 2011

MMA TO HOST 46TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE ON NOVEMBER 4
Parade kicks off Parent’s Weekend, 46th Anniversary Birthday Ball
                                                                                             
Harlingen, Texas – Marine Military Academy (MMA) will host its 46th Anniversary Parade on Friday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. on the MMA Parade Grounds. Held since 1965, the year MMA opened, the parade will feature performances by the Leatherneck Band, Silent Drill Team and Leatherneck Cannon Crew. The public is invited to this proud event, which also celebrates the 236th Anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

The 46th Anniversary Parade kicks off Parent’s Weekend, a two-day affair in which parents from all over the globe come to MMA to visit their sons. Parents arrive in time for the MMA Homecoming Game on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. and accompany their sons to the 46th Anniversary Birthday Ball on Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. The Birthday Ball is a formal military ball with a traditional mother-son dance and cake-cutting ceremony.

Richard Moxley of Oakton, Va. will be the reviewing officer for the parade and the guest of honor at the ball. An MMA alumnus, Moxley is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Blackbird Technologies, Inc. in Herndon, Va.

After graduating from MMA in 1986, Moxley enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and concurrently enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, he moved to Northern Virginia, where he worked as a software engineer supporting national security customers in anti-submarine warfare, exploitation of space-based imagery and information operations.

In 1997, Moxley co-founded Blackbird Technologies, a company that provides advanced technical capabilities to U.S. defense, intelligence, and law enforcement communities. With offices in five states and more than 500 employees, Blackbird is recognized for its expertise in developing custom hardware and software to solve hard problems in the national security arena.

In the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Moxley served as a rifleman and squad leader with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines in Austin, Texas. He went on to become a counterintelligence specialist with the 10th Counterintelligence Team in Washington, D.C.; a systems non-commissioned officer with the National Intelligence Support Team,

 Joint Staff, at the Pentagon; and a cryptologic network specialist with the Information Operations Technology Center, National Security Agency, in Ft. Meade, Md. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2000.

For more information on the 46th Anniversary Parade or Parent’s Weekend events, call (956) 421.9235.