Andrew Orlando

Board Essay

The Army has been the largest mover of supply for the US since it was
established on June 14, 1775. Logistics is one of the main reasons the US has been so
successful in the past wars. If it weren’t for the officers managing the logistics to the
right places at the appropriate time, maybe we wouldn’t have been so successful in
winning our battles. For me, going into logistics, there will be valuable experience to be
gained from all of those years of experience.
One of the biggest reasons that I joined the military is because it’s in my blood
and the people around me. Lots of family and friends were in the military. Unfortunately,
there have been fewer of us joining in recent years. My first inspiration would be my
great-grandfather. He was so passionate about being in the Army in Italy. He would
often wear his garrison cap during our Sunday dinners. Sadly, there was a language
barrier, so I never got to hear his stories from him. However, my grandma would tell me
that he was given many awards along with a prestigious calvary medal. My distant
cousins are also in the military, and they are one of the key inspirations for me. When I
talk to them, they tell me about their stories of things civilians would never experience
and the places they’ve been. My last inspiration was from my wrestling team. I had a
wrestling coach who was a marine veteran of the Vietnam War. He would tell the team
and I about the stories we went through. In the end, those hardships made him the
successful man he is today. Plus, a lot of my close friends on the team went to the
marines and the navy. They would come back and tell me about their experiences, and I
thought it was really intriguing. I said to myself that I would want to live that kind of
lifestyle someday. Just not on a boat.
Being in college, I must learn my trade. However, in the future, I will become the
manager of a group/team of people in a department of a warehouse or maybe 100 plus
of an entire warehouse or maybe 500 plus through multiple warehouses. A degree gives
you only knowledge from that specific major, but it doesn’t give you the skills to lead a
team. Going into my career, where it requires lots of management, organization, and
accountability, it is almost essential that I go through the schools of the Army to gain
skills and experience. As a commander, I learn to be much more than a manager. My
troops/employees are with me at work and outside of work.
As an enlisted soldier, I could’ve stayed stagnant and gone through the motion.
Go to class, go to drill every once a month, then end my week with work. I came into
this program wanting to better myself as a soldier and as a civilian. I didn’t want the
easy way out of my life. Instead of doing what’s easy and attending only my classes, I
went into the Army Reserve recruiting office 10 months ago to plan my steps to go into
ROTC. As a civilian, I planned to better myself for the future, to keep on pushing
forward, and keep growing. I know that this program and my life as an officer will
inevitably better myself and give me tools to be successful.