Rob, North Carolina, 1969. No. 016: Full Circle

I was a junior at Norwich University, a military college in Vermont (home and founder of ROTC) and was in ROTC with an expectation of going to either Germany or Vietnam. I chose to go to Norwich since if I had to go to Vietnam I wanted to go as an officer. I chose "Armor" as a branch in the Army with the hope that I would have a better chance of going to Germany versus Vietnam. However, at Army (ROTC) summer camp at Ft. Indian Gap, PA, they discovered I was allergic to bee stings and I was washed out of ROTC and the Army.

Upon graduation from Norwich in 1970, I went to graduate school at the University of Georgia where I received a Master degree and later went to the University of Southern California where I received a Doctorate. I taught at the National Defense University (graduate school) in DC for 16 years and finished my career as a senior Army official at the Pentagon.

Even though I did not serve active duty in the Army, I did volunteer to serve and did contribute to developing the next generation of leadership of the Armed Services, State Department, and Intel Community. Hence, I came full circle in contributing to the nation’s national security.