ROTC Essentials

My parents were the last group to immigrate to America in our family. We come from a modest background and humble beginnings, but regardless of the conditions, I have tried to make the best out of everyday. My acceptance that we were not rich and our family wasn’t the typical American model household didn’t hinder any goals I planned for myself. In contrast, the experiences and emotions I endured only forced me to rationally understand and formulate a lifestyle fitting for my character and background. During high school, I didn’t know what my goals were in life, or what I wanted to learn in college, but the allure of new things and foreign places always fulfilled my void. The United States Army soon answered my calling. By joining the services, I hoped to enrich my understanding of different people and demonstrate my leadership abilities in my goals of becoming an officer in the U.S Army. “Congratulations, be all you can be”, said the Army recruiter as I shook his hand after I was sworn into the services. I felt a surge of pride and dignity that day, riding home from MEP station. That was two years ago, when I was still a high school senior. Two months af

In the midst of war and terrorism, the demands for soldiers have increased dramatically. There will never be a shortage of demand for military personnel. Depending on the different administrations of different presidents, the budget and size of the Army will change variably, but nonetheless, the Army has always been diligently trying to recruit young, eager men and women to serve their country. With this in mind, people will be assured to have a job almost always readily available, especially in infantry and other combat arm fields. Being in the Army, it is very unlikely for you to lose your job, however, one will and can be discharged for misconduct and unsoldierly behavior. With the sense of a job security, the emotional atmosphere in the Army is often less tense. The emotional tone of enlisted and commissioned officers differ in quantity and quality. Enlisted soldiers typically experience more ridicule and scrutiny from their supervising NCO’s (Non-Commissioned Officers), which in turn, precipitate condescending feelings of bitterness and resentment. When one feels that they are at the bottom of a hierarchy ranking, when in fact they are, like myself, they tend to feel ambiguous and unsure about the value of their contribution. The emotional norm and culture of the Army tells of an old tradition where the new soldiers are expected to endure suffering and hardship to earn the respect of their predecessor comrades. They must re-experience the rugged training and beastly combat situations to fully understand the meaning of a soldier. With all that implies with this stereotypical emotional culture of the traditionist soldier, I disagree with their philosophy on how to endocrine new soldiers. Fortunately, much progress has been achieved in the newer, more modern, benevolent, and ethical Army, with its more effective methods of training.

ter I graduated, “God damn you privates, get the hell down and beat your face,” our Drill Sergeant Torris would rant. The gratification, along with its responsibilities, of knowing I am serving my country still deeply honors me. By sharing the knowledge gained from my experience and through military resources and references, I wish to empathize my emotional roller-coaster as a soldier, and present an intensive case-study profile of the mechanics and loopholes of being an enlisted member, as wells as, being a commissioned officer in the United Stated Army.

Emotional Roller-coaster. My achievement of surviving boot camp only fuels my ambition further more of being a soldier. As I moved to California in search of purpose and education and satisfaction, the fantastical imagery of being a soldier still taunts me. As a member of the Army Reserves, my ideologies often circulate around the military community and its officers. The ROTC program offered by many nearby campuses is the perfect ingredient in my educational recipe. In a city as diverse and multicultural as Los Angeles, ROTC provides the perfect arena for scholars, students, and soldiers like myself; to appreciate the beauty of pursuing human excellence and harmony. As I found out, the military offers students and soldiers alike, many different paths to pay for college, and different ways to develop leadership skills and self-confidence crucial to the vitality of today’s workforce. There are so many good things in the military for both men and women. The act of joining the services, itself, stands out considerably among common people. Sure, many people may choose to be a doctor or an accountant, but my hardships through the Army has toughen me in so many countless ways. I learned that something as ornate as material superiority could be very fallacious in fulfilling self-actualization. The Army reintroduced to me something as fundamental as friendship, could be the most precious feeling one could cherish. Teamwork and its cohesiveness are what determine life and death, and your determination and faith will take you so much farther

Some topics in this essay:
Non-Commissioned Officers, Akira Thompson, Training Army, Angeles ROTC, NCO Journal, Training Corp, Emotional Training, Plans Requirements, Reactions Army, United Army, active duty, basic training, enlisted commissioned, true soldier, experiences emotions, military community, army reserves, emotional roller-coaster, variables emotional, social variables,