The reasons why I serve my country

Major Christopher Alger
Student, Command and General Staff School
U.S. Army combined Arms Center
Fort Belvoir, Virginia

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

The reasons I serve in the military is a question I have asked myself many times prior to and during my career as a military officer. My experiences with and reasons to serve the military started when I was thirteen years of age, for pure fun and the sense of belonging and continue to change and evolve as I serve now at thirty-six. A trip back down my life will reveal my reasons for serving.
I was first drawn to the military in high school when friends were enrolled in Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC). These friends were joining the armed drill team and beginning to learn drill and ceremony and marching maneuvers. After school they practiced and it caught my attention. I participated and enjoyed marching and soon signed up for JROTC as well. I valued the new friends I made and the comradeship which drill team and JROTC provided. I participated in ROTC for my four years of high school and continued to excel within the unit, attaining the highest ranking position within my high school unit.
As a freshman at college I wasn’t convinced I wanted to join Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and make the military a career. This would have been logical having completed four years for JROTC. I was still very young, only seventeen, and away from home and family for the first time. I joined a fraternity and it fulfilled my need for friends and a sense of belonging with them. ROTC and the military was the farthest thing on my mind.
A year later, as a sophomore, my best friend from high school, who also participated in JROTC with me, was attending the same college and was accepted to pledge my fraternity. Upon his arrival we discussed joining ROTC. Having been involved in Navy JROTC, it was natural for us to want to join the Navy ROTC unit. The only issue was that once again this Navy unit was split between two colleges with the headquarters office/unit at the other college. The headquarters unit was only twelve miles away but neither my friend nor I had a vehicle to get us there. We overcame this by meeting others within the unit who would be able to transport us. Other issues or concerns for me with the Navy ROTC was their expectation for us to wear our Navy uniform on the college campus and to our classes at least one day per week and the need for us to attend mandatory Navy ROTC study tables in the evenings. Both of these requirements cramped my life style at the time. I wanted to fit in with my fraternity style of living and not be labeled as a “ROTC Nazi” in my uniform while on campus. Study tables weren’t appealing as a sophomore, having done so for my freshmen year within the fraternity. Needless to say, my stint in Navy ROTC did not last long.
Later that same year, I started talking with another fraternity brother who was involved in Army ROTC. This unit was set up much differently than the Navy unit, providing fun and excitement through Ranger Challenge, rifle ranges and rappelling classes. Class was only 1 hour per week and wearing of the uniform was not a requirement on campus. This was enough to convince me to join up and try Army ROTC. After my first year in the unit I was identified by the unit’s leadership and was provided an opportunity to attend the Army’s Airborne school and Fort Benning, GA. Upon graduation and earning my airborne wings, I was hooked and wanted to be an Army Officer. Once again I felt the comradeship and esprit de corps which you don’t find anywhere besides the military.
Upon graduation of college I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps. It was always a dream of mine to fly and having been disqualified on an Army flight physical prevented me from assessing Aviation Branch. The Medical Service Corps (MSC) offered me a second opportunity to pass the physical and attend aviation school as a medical evacuation pilot.
The MSC was new to me and I really didn’t want a career in the medical field with shots, needles and blood being a hard thing for me to see and stomach. As fate should have it, I was not but into a position of having to view these things, as a medical platoon leader. Rather, I started a role in medical logistics, ordering medical supplies when I reported to my first unit, the Army Medical Activity in Fort Eustis, VA.
I enjoyed the challenge of medical logistics and believed it was a great career field offering me the opportunity to gain valuable experience and make me competitive in the real world if I should get out of the Army. Soon my thoughts and dream of wanting to fly went away and I became completely satisfied in the world of medical logistics.
Another desire I had and a reason why I joined the military was to travel. My mother, who passed away just prior to my college graduation, was German and she loved Germany. She took my eldest brother and me there for three months when I was seven. I enjoyed visiting there and had a want to return. I started working with my career/branch officer after two years at Fort Eustis and was able to get assigned to a Medial Logistics Battalion in Pirmasens, Germany. Just after arrival to my new unit I flew back to Fort Eustis and was married. My new spouse joined me in Germany and we soon started our almost four year honeymoon traveling all around Germany and Europe. I thoroughly enjoyed the life style the military provided. The benefits of job and health care along with our opportunity to travel could not be matched. I served in the military for personnel pleasure. I was successful in my job, able to support my spouse and felt I had all the opportunities I needed. If I wanted to get out I could. With the experience and knowledge I gained while serving I could sustain a satisfactory lifestyle.
Then September 11th came. The world changed that day and my desire to serve greatly increased. I needed to be in the Army and do all I could to serve my country and the people of the United States. I believe this feeling was felt by all and many of them soon stepped up and joined the Military to do all that they could do.
The Army has been great to me and my family for the last 14 years. The opportunities I have had, the experiences and the education I have gained are second to none. I serve in the military because it makes me proud and a better person for it. I have a military affiliation for almost 23 years of my life and I have thoroughly enjoyed every day of it.