I suppose you could say serving in the military runs in my blood. My father served in the U.S. Army for over twenty years; my twin brother, James, commissioned out of North Carolina State University as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and now serves as an officer and doctor in the U.S. Army; my younger brother, Andy, serves as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. There was actually a period of about six months when all four of us were in the military at the same time. Growing up with my dad in the Army made the military life seem normal to me and set an excellent example of what it means to serve one’s country and family. This strong impression joined together with a propensity to serve that has always existed within me, and a desire to be a part of something bigger than myself, are what ultimately led me to join the U.S. Army.
Sitting in math class while attending North Carolina State University, I asked the cadet next to me where the ROTC office was, meaning the Navy ROTC office. He didn’t know where that was, so he instead led me to the Army office. I guess that was fitting, because after eventually speaking with someone from the Navy, I was informed I would be required to take physics along with some advanced math and chemistry. My degree (BS Agriculture Education) did not require these courses, and neither did the Army, so that’s how my decision was made to join the Army and where my adventure began.
I finished my exams for the semester early so I could complete Airborne School between Thanksgiving and Christmas and just over a year later, I started all my classes a couple weeks late in order to attend Air Assault School in Fort Campbell, Kentucky before school started. My graduation from ROTC occurred in December of 2009 and I was commissioned as an Infantry Officer into the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant.
I headed to the University of Colorado Boulder for my first duty assignment as a Gold Bar Recruiter, which lasted four months. I then traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia where I completed the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course.
