Since graduating from Duke, I have had a lot of time to reflect on my time at Duke Army ROTC before reporting to BOLC in early November. Sometimes I talk to friends who have found comfortable desk jobs and I wonder what on earth am I doing. My experience will be so different from theirs. It will include danger, challenge, and not much in the way of salary or perks. Then I remember what a great experience I had in Army ROTC, how much I grew as a person and a cadet and how excited I am...read more

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Finally I have something good to write about. This last week I went down to Duke to help out with new cadet orientation. Also, I went to a cool training course put on by Delta guys that exposed me to the way they do things. It was great going down to new cadet orientation and seeing the current seniors I trained last year put on a good show. It was the first time I really did anything after being commissioned and things weren’t really that different. One of our new cadre...read more

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We have started to get results from our juniors attending Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC). So far, they have done very well, many of them earning the coveted E (for Excellent) which few earn. LDAC is important because it affects how much choice you have in branch. Seeing them succeed gave me a huge amount of personal satisfaction. Myself and the other seniors spent a lot of time training them, counseling them, and mentoring them. Looking back at my time at Duke and ROTC,...read more

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Lately, I have been reflecting on my Junior and Senior years of ROTC and how much I learned during them. Junior year, ROTC becomes a little more serious. In addition to what I discussed in my last post, the class will take up more time and you are rotated in and out of leadership positions. After each cycle, you are counseled and evaluated. The standards you are expected to reach are higher and there is extra training if you do not meet those standards. The goal is to prepare you for...read more

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For my next few posts, I thought I would reflect some on my experiences in ROTC to give you a sense for what ROTC is like. ROTC was without a doubt the best part of my college experience. The classes I took at Duke gave me a great academic background but in ROTC you learn common sense and how to get things done in the real world. I grew tremendously as a person. For this entry, I’ll look at the first two years in ROTC. For most cadets, ROTC is like any extracurricular. The...read more

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Lately I have been traveling. First I was in Israel, then Barcelona and France. I have definitely liked being abroad and had a good time. It also helped put my ROTC experience in perspective. Israelis like to think their military is better than the American. I was tempted to believe it at first, but now I am not as sure. Many of the soldiers I talked to didn't have a great attitude, probably because they were drafted but didn't really want to do it. Also, they don't put nearly as big an...read more

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I have been commissioned. I am now an officer in the Army of the United States of America. The ceremony was very well put together. There were talks by LTC Tribus, our battalion commander who has been an excellent mentor to me, and COL Joe LeBeouf, our guest speaker. Then, MG William Garrison read me my oath, my parents pinned on my bars, and CSM Richard Davis gave me my first salute. And just like that with my mom crying, I was a commissioned officer. My first reaction to being...read more

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I just got back from the Marshall conference. Each program sends one cadet to it. We discussed various issue such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and officer NCO relationships. We also listened to talks from General Casey, Senator Webb and the Secretary of the Army among others. Overall it ended up being a great experience. The thing that made it great was getting a chance to meat some great cadets from other programs and talk with them. There was a huge range of people. One person I...read more

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We just did our Cluster FTX where we join other schools in the area for a field training exercise. The goal was to help prepare our Juniors for Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) this weekend by throwing them into a squad with people they don’t know and then making them lead. The FTX was not that well run. We spent a lot of time standing in formation waiting around for someone to make a decision and it rained the entire time. There were also some things that were not...read more

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For my first blog entry, I thought it would fitting to introduce myself and then talk a little bit about why I joined ROTC.   I have lived in the same house inside of Washington DC since I was born. Both my parents are lawyers. My dad finished his career working in a not for profit that did AIDS and other disease prevention in developing countries. My mom is currently working in corporate legal for SAIC, a major defense contractor. I attended Washington International School (WIS) since...read more

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