I have been a platoon leader in an active duty Human Resources Company (90th HRC) for 11 months now. I was pretty nervous before my first day of work. Even though I’ve been in the Army for a few years, I did not quite know what to expect. (3rd Platoon "Pride and Honor") Luckily when I arrived there were three Lieutenants that had been in the unit awhile and “took me under their wing” so to speak. They showed me the ropes, but I definitely had to hit...read more

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Over the last two weeks our training at Fort Jackson has been focused on combat operations. Our instructors for this training were senior NCO's lead by a Military Police Captain from the "Combined Arms Division". The CAD instructors are all combat experienced with multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq under their belt. The main training focus was on convoy operations. Each student was able to log onto a high-end laptop station and run through a convoy...read more

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I am 5 months in to my new duty as an officer and the semester is almost over. I am working as a Recruiting Operations Officer Assistant and official cadre at Minnesota State University's ROTC program. My BOLC-B date was pushed back because the Army deleted the old BOLC format. Because of the BOLC format change, I passed the number of days I could perform “gold bar” duty, and my status changed to work as a "cadre" member. It was a good change, because I am able to...read more

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I am officially on Active Duty and just received my first paycheck. It is a relieving feeling to have the security of a guaranteed check the 1st and 15th of every month. Although being in college was fun, I am starting to like and appreciate the duty day hours for my job as a Gold Bar Recruiter. The process for acquiring my job was just a matter of requesting it before commissioned into Active Duty, and if there is a slot available, and you meet the qualifications you're hired. The way it...read more

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Even though it was hot and sticky, on August 8, 2009 there was a "feeling" in the air. The day I finally received my 2nd Lieutenant rank, signed my contract to make it official, and said the oath of office (again). I was lucky to be able to have the ceremony at my house in front of my family and friends. Lt. Col Cooper made some nice remarks during his speech saying "If my kids were of age to be lead by Lieutenant Riggs, I would have absolutely no problem if they were under his command." His...read more

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It has been awhile since my last blog, I have been busy finishing up summer school and coordinating travel plans! For the last 5 days, I have been staying in Adelaide Australia for an internship with the South Australian Special Olympics. This blog will mostly be focused on that, to show that being an ROTC cadet, you have the opportunity to study or work abroad just like any other student if you plan ahead in advance, and stay on top of you course schedules. More than likely you won’t be...read more

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Soldiers and leaders of the Army live by seven Army Values, all of which are equally important. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and the seventh value "Personal Courage". Personal Courage as defined by the Army, is to face fear, danger or adversity. Personal Courage is the ability one has to overcome a difficult task or situation with steadfastness, or in contrast, to do the moral and right thing when given an opportunity to benefit themselves, by...read more

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I will explain the format of the ROTC program the best I can so that you can understand what I am talking about in my articles. ROTC is a 4-year training program held at most 4-year universities across the nation. The purpose of ROTC is to produce quality officers for the United States Army, it is not the only route to take to become an officer, but in my opinion it is one of the best. I think this because if you plan on getting a degree, you can get it completely paid for while you go to...read more

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Today is Saturday, and it is my last drill in the National Guard. It is a good feeling after 6 years of going to drill, deploying, and finishing up my National Guard time in the Recruit Sustainment program. I was lucky to get a position as a cadet, where I was placed in a real leadership role. I was a platoon leader for the RSP program. Developing training schedules, working with the platoon sergeants, and “moving the pieces” throughout drill, to make sure that the students are...read more

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Hello and welcome to my second entry! Keep in mind, my thoughts don’t occur in a vacuum, once I start writing, I might go off on tangents, but I’ll try to keep it organized! I would like to talk about my ROTC experiences and a little bit about my time in the National Guard. I have been in the Guard for 6 years and I have one combat deployment under my belt. The badge that you see on my uniform in my last entry is the CIB. That is the Combat Infantry Badge. It used to be that the...read more

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