I am CDT Dustin Elias, a senior in the Campbell University ROTC. After a couple of years in the army I wanted to become an officer, but I have children in the exceptional family member program and saw no way to become an officer without leaving the military. I could leave because my children need the Army health care due to the speech, occupational, and physical therapy they receive on a weekly basis. A Couple of years ago, one of the officers I worked with, CPT Lance, informed me of the Green to Gold, Active duty option. Now, I am less than a year away from becoming a commissioned officer in the United States Army, a dream I have had for years.
I am so thankful that this program exists, without it I do not think I ever would be able to become a commissioned officer. The hours in ROTC can be demanding, but never as demanding as my life in the active Army. As busy as my ROTC schedule is, at the end of the day I get to go home to my wife and children. I do not have to worry about staff duty, CQ, or deployments. Aside form the occasional field training exercise or volunteer event I am home on the weekend which is a nice break from the military life I had been living prior to ROTC.