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BLACKSBURG, Virginia — A large contingent of Virginia Tech students engaged in a mock battle after a recent snowfall, pelting one another in a massive snowball fight that pitted civilian students against cadets.

It's a tradition at Virginia Tech, which has a military program, the Corps of Cadets. Four inches of snowfall last month was enough to spark the battle, and the Weather Channel offered a report from the scene — the on-campus Drillfield — on Feb. 11.

"When it was going on, it was just mass organized chaos with snowballs flying everywhere," said meteorologist Jen Carfagno. "I saw people wearing goggles and people wearing helmets, that's how intense they expected this big snowball fight to be."

She said the cadets were very organized, but the civilians won. However, watching footage of the melee starting at the 55-second point in the accompanying video, it appears to be nothing more than a mass of people and flying snow. You can hear military music in the background — a drum beat and bagpipes, apparently to motivate the cadets — and shouts from an apparent leader of the military students.

"Don't give them an inch, Keep pushing forward," he screams. "They may take our lives today, but not our freedom!"

Molly Mountcastle, a Virginia Tech freshman, told the Collegiate Times, the Virginia Tech newspaper, that she had a good time. "Seeing so many students in one place, having so much fun, reminded me of why I love Virginia Tech, and the school spirit we possess as Hokies," she said.