Welcome to real life

By: Chris Topham

Posted: 9/30/08

I go into the barber shop, order the usual and watch as the trappings of the everyday world fall past my shoulders and onto the floor. My hair is cut short for two reasons: one is so that I can maintain a decent state of hygiene even after weeks without running water, and two is so that my enemy cannot grab it if I must engage him in hand-to-hand combat...

Up until a few months ago, I was just another student at Oregon State University, plugging away on my degree so I can go on to bigger and better things. However, I received a phone call three months ago that would change my life. I was called by my commander to confirm that our unit was deploying to Iraq for one year starting next May, and that I could wave my education for the next two years to deploy with the unit. It is funny to think as everyone else is preparing for classes to start I am packing my bags to train for war; six months of training await me in the heart of the south at Fort Benning, Ga.

I used to define myself as a 23-year-old non-traditional student at Oregon State University studying communication who splits his time between Greek life and competing on the forensics team. Now my self-image has become something I have spent the last six years cultivating; that of a young officer in the finest Army in the world. You see, I enlisted in the Army when I was seventeen; I enlisted right after the towers fell, because I felt like I had a duty to protect my loved ones even if it meant I would have to put myself in harm's way to do so.

Now, six years later, the sense of duty I have is greater than I could have ever imagined, for not only do I still feel like I owe it to my loved ones to walk the hard road, but I also possess a sense of responsibility towards the soldiers' families to keep their boys safe. The key factor in determining whether I would go to Iraq or not was the knowledge that regardless of my choice in going or not, the war will still be going tomorrow, and my soldiers are willingly placing their lives on the line for someone they've never met.

There are few realizations in life that hit you quite as hard as realizing that you are devoting the best years of your life to ensuring others make it home safely. I now find great joy in realizing that my soldiers are depending on me to do well by them, and thus I have no problem packing my bags and joining them in this hellish war. So here I sit, enjoying these last few days in Oregon before I leave for Georgia, watching the incoming freshmen scramble around campus in the mad dash of excitement that is youth.

There are over two dozen soldiers from all across Oregon who are going to be deploying with us in the upcoming months, and scores more who have already served their country in the Iraq war. It is not money or glory that drives them to serve, but the knowledge that some good can be found even in the darkest of times. The road is long but it is walked by people who also believe in a greater calling than themselves; it is a selfless thing to devote one's life to service and yet it is done every day by the young men and women of America's Army.

Over the course of the following months I will detail the life of the modern Army officer; from training in preparation to war, to the day-to-day happenings of military life, to the war itself, and back again. The next column will be from Fort Benning, Ga., where I will be attending the Infantry Officers Basic Course, a stepping stone for all Infantry Officers and one that I am looking forward to.

My last thought before I go is this: enjoy these days of peace as you live the day-to-day on campus, because you never know when your life will be turned upside down. Life is too short to spend living with regret; rather, take every challenge as an opportunity to show what you're made of.