Army commanders shared their experiences and answered questions from ROTC cadets. (Photo by Stephanie Lockhart).Luke Richey - Staff Writerlrichey@uab.edu
On Sept. 17, at 3:30 p.m., UAB ROTC presented its annual Leadership and Mission Command Forum in Bell Theatre.
The Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC, is a nationwide college program for training officers in the United States Armed Forces.
Army uniforms crowded the theatre. Servicemen and women accompanied their family and friends to the forum.
“This event exposes cadets to higher leadership,” said Ingrid Murati, a senior Pre-Optometry and Business Management major and rank MS 4 in the ROTC program. “This allows cadets to gain experience from the incredible achievements these high ranking officials have achieved. We have the highest ranking female in the Army here today.”
“Last year’s event was awesome. Professional. It gave great insight into leadership. Showed the integration from military to civilian,” said Brian Nykanen, an ROTC serviceman rank Cadet S3 and Neuroscience major. When asked what he thought he would get out of the event this year, he said, “These are all high ranking officials. Excellent CVs [curriculum vitae, an expanded resume]. They’ve all done a lot for the country and are successful of course in the military, but also in business.”
The five panelists, Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles, Maj. Gen. James Darden, Maj. Gen. Lee Price, Col. John Grimes and Col. Steve Shepherd, had a total of 160 years of service to the U.S. Army between them.
As they were introduced, ROTC commanders at the podium spoke about mission accomplishment, complex military endeavors and trust to the on-looking cadets. Bold had a 33-year career with the U.S. Army, and at the end of his career was the assistant deputy chief of staff at the Pentagon. Price had 38 years of military service, and was the first woman selected for general officer. She the first woman promoted to major general in the Army Acquisition and a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal.
A question-and-answer-styled forum followed after the introduction of the military leaders.
“When I came into the Army, only two percent were women. My goal was to become a general officer. For a woman, you had to come and had to prove yourself,” said Price on her personal experience entering into the service.
An ROTC serviceman asked Darden what the most difficult decision he had made as a leader.
“The most difficult decision I made as a leader was committing servicemen to combat in Vietnam. I had to tell them to charge the hill so to speak.”
Grimes responded to a question about what makes a great leader; “There is no such thing as a born leader. It’s a nurtured trait. You have to have the ability to inspire fellowship.” Sheppard explained to the audience his philosophy after being in the army.
“I had the realization that life is short. Combat reinforces that life is short. Every day is a gift and I don’t want to waste it.”
