My name is David Lynch, and I am a freshman at Virginia Tech. I am currently studying General Engineering and am part of the Galileo Engineering Community for male engineering students. I had initially wanted to major in Mechanical Engineering, but have lost my interest in a technical engineering degree. This is mostly due to what I want to do for my career and my academic interests. So far I have enjoyed my time at Virginia Tech, but it is not the school for me.
Next year I will be a cadet at the United States Military Academy, known as West Point. After not getting an appointment last year, I decided to reapply to the academy, and spend a year studying engineering at Virginia Tech. I have been working closely with my Regional Commander (admissions officer) to try and get my application through the admissions process for a second time as fast as possible to increase my chances of receiving an appointment. While at West Point, I will pursue a degree in Engineering Management and a minor in Arabic. I believe that those two degrees will help me out as an Army officer better than a technical engineering degree.
In the meantime, I have joined the Army National Guard and will be serving in the 29th Infantry Division. I have not attended basic or AIT, and have not begun training yet. I will be an 11B Infantryman. I feel a connection to the 29th Infantry Division, and even tough I will not be in the 29th for long, because I will be leaving for cadet basic training in June, I still wish to return to serving in the 29th after a career as a commissioned officer on active duty in the US Army. My grandfather served for 11 years in the 29th infantry Division and was discharged as a Master Sergeant.
After graduating from West Point, I hope to serve a full career as a commissioned officer in the US Army, preferably the Infantry and then in Special Forces. Because I can't go immediately to Special Warfare School to train to be in the US Army Special Forces (The Green Berets), I hope to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment, which is a Special Operations infantry regiment and part of the US Special Operations Command. I will have to spend at least 4 years in the US Army before being able to try out for Special Warfare School, which is my ultimate goal while in the Army.
Some of my other interests are: competitive target shooting, mountain biking, and working out. I enjoy doing all sorts of shooting sports, including small and large bore shooting, pistol shooting, and shotgun shooting. Small bore shooting is shooting with a relatively weak round such as a .22 which is purely for target shooting within 25 yards, whereas large bore is shooting any high caliber rifle at long distance. My longest shot was made at around 800 yards. I also do various pistol shooting sports as well as skeet and trap, which are both different shotgun shooting sports where you hit a flying clay target. Overall, I like to stay active and always like to be doing something that involves some level of physical activity.
I am looking forward to this semester of english and writing blogs, especially because they dont' have to be as long as the blogs last semester.
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when first reading this blog, all I can think is wow, you have a pretty in depth plan for your future. And its weird because I just so happen to be attached to A Co 116th. I think that your planned courses for West Point are a very good idea and based of my experiences overseas, if you become well educated in the Arabic language you will find yourself climbing the rank ladder quickly. It will also help you in getting through the 2 weeks selection course for SF, because not only is it going to be extremely physical, but mentally it will test you to the fullest. I had the privilege of doing several missions with the 10th SF group and all I can say is those guys are a breed above the rest, and anyone who takes on the challenge of SF school and does not quit earns my respect.
ReplyDeleteI would agree. Although I know what I want to do generally, I definitely don't have my future that well planned out. It's also always cool to read about other people's backgrounds. I'm used to being around music kids so reading about things like the 29th Infantry Division or the US Army Special Forces is really interesting. Although I don't necessarily understand everything about the structure of the military I can imagine the difficulty of achieving these goals and commend you for the work you've done so far towards them.
ReplyDeleteIts good to set high goals for yourself, but when it comes to wanting to be in the military, you should set goals that you know you are capable of reaching. WP is an excellent school with a flawless reputation, but if you are looking to join the military and earn a commission, why not do ROTC here at Tech. WP may be the top Military Academy, but its Army ROTC program is, and has been for the last several years, ranked below the program here at Tech. If you have the smarts to get accepted into the Engineering school here than you are obviously gifted (believe me I tried and was basically told im to dumb to get into the program and they laughed for me even trying). From your blog it seems like your losing motivation to perform well here because all you want to do is go to WP. Take what you have now and make the best of it because everything is riding on accession points, and if your GPA drops even the slightest your ability to branch into your desired field will be greatly hindered. Everyone has the ability to lead, but its the select few who are willing to bite the bullet and drive on that earn the privilege.
ReplyDeleteWest Point doesn't even have a ROTC program because the cadets are on active duty. I'm not really loosing motivation to perform well here, because I am still working hard in all of my classes. My initial plans were to actually enlist and reapply to West Point and not go to college at all, but decided to try VT for a year and see what I thought of normal college, and what I have found is that I just don't like it here because of the academic program that I am currently in (they don't offer the major that I want, etc.)
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see you guys (David/Matthew) have a dialogue together. I'm glad you ended up in a group together -- it was just a coincidence. This has been one of the most interesting things about teaching at Tech, for me. I had never really known anyone in the military before, believe it or not. My grandfather was a WWII Vet but he died before I was born. Anyway, I have to confess that despite myself I had a kind of monolithic view of the military, and all the cadets (and David) that I have met so far have challenged that view in one way or another...
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