Aric Gamble

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1101
November 20, 2014
Fort Bragg Army
First off I would like to inform you that I got to shadow a platoon officer, which is very
rare and would not of happened but did because I know him personally, who you will learn
about below and since this is going to be my future career, as an officer in the Army but not the
exact same job duties, most of my observations and interview is about why he wanted to be an
officer, what he went through in ROTC like me and questions about what he does in his job. I
really liked my first draft and enjoyed observing his platoon or the day and taking notes. It was
so interesting to see how everything and everyone work together to get things done in such an
efficient and timely manner. Writing this paper was very enjoyable and I hope you enjoy reading
it as well.
It was the cold and windy morning of Saturday November 15th, 2014 as I walked into
Section B1 Hanger of the Fort Bragg Military Base at 4:30 am. I was given the opportunity to
shadow Platoon Leader 2LT Matthew Lumpkin, a personal friend and neighbor. The hanger
were typical to the ones you see in the movies, big greyish metal walls with a huge hanger door
that opens up completely on one side, with a huge greyish white shiny floor. The hanger smelled
of floor polish and was very neat and organized; a small group of cubicles in one corner with
three Apache Support Helicopters (Helos) on one side with the rest of the floor open for
formations and briefings. At 5 am, the platoon of about one-hundred and fifty men got into

formation and started the day with a little PT warmup and a few exercises, which included
running, pushups, pull ups, and sit ups. After PT, 2LT Lumpkin put the platoon back into
formation and briefed them on their tasks for the day, which broke down among about ten
different squads and I was unable to follow all of the squads. The main squad I was able to
follow, in which 2LT Lumpkin was the squad leader of, was the main maintenance group who
worked on the Helos.
My main goal while I was shadowing Officer Lumpkin was to not only see what he does
for his job and what my future career would be like, but to see how so many squads, the different
groups of people, are able to communicate and stay on the same page while working on different
tasks that will eventually all be put together to accomplish something significant; in my case they
are doing maintenance on the Helos.
Throughout the day I observed many different things from each and every squad. Overall,
everyone has the same common goal at the end of the day and so I do, to serve and protect the
people of the United States of America in the most efficient way possible. As each squad
accomplishes a task, they use walkiy talkies to allow each other to know what is being done at a
given time and even they can get together to finish the final overall task. To make things run
smoother and more efficient, everyone uses certain types of words and things they call
callouts, such as when the platoon leader gives orders to everyone, they respond with hooah
which means that you understand your task. Another way that everyone communicates is when
the leader calls out Attention and everyone stops what they are doing and faces the leader
while standing straight up looking straight and a not saying a word. Once the leader is completed
with what he is saying, he or she would say at ease which means he or she is releasing them to
continue to do what they are doing. This is a very affective form of getting everyones attention

and making sure everyone is listening. Another commonly said thing was asses and elbows.
This basically means that hen this is said, everyone needs to work at their fullest potential to get
the task done at a faster pace, but still having the overall outcome of completing the task
correctly and efficiently. Honestly I could go on for days about the thousands of special things
that people say in the military, so I would like to provide you with a link to look at how many
crazy different slang words the military has created. Here is a link to a website:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_military_slang. Please take a quick break to
look at some of the words that are created so that things could be understood better by everyone.
To me it is so unique and exciting learned so many different key words that are being said, which
is only better preparing me for my future career as an Officer for the United States Army.
Throughout the day I was only able to focus on a few of the squads, but for the most part
you learn and see the everyone is so focused on what they are doing in such a mature, diligent
manner that problems hardly occur amongst the squads. If any problems were to occur, you
would usually see how another solider would step up to find help within the squad and if they
still needed help, the would ask everyone over the walkiy talkies and the task would be
completed. You could see from their training that every solider is very well disciplined and of
course there is some jokesters around the platoon, but for the most part everyone is on task and
focused on accomplishing their goal, because in the military you dont leave to go home until the
job is done. I personally ask 2LT Lumpkin if there are any stereotypes of the soldiers literacy
knowledge and he just laughed at me and said, One thing you will learn here is that everyone
doesnt know everything, and everyone knows something that the next person doesnt, so as an
overall whole unit, we work together and with everyone there is nothing that we dont know or
cant accomplish. This statement really hit at the reason that it showed how the military works

so well together to get things done, but is for the most part never comes to the point where they
are stuck on something because with the help of everyone working together there is nothing that
cant be accomplished. With that being said, there are certain groups of people who get labeled
as Gun Hoes or Tech Geeks. A typical gun hoe would be someone who is all about the
weaponry and specializes in how to use, clean and take care of your weapons or the Helos
weapons. A typical tech geek are the ones who can fix any electrical problems among any of the
systems while using special electronic devices to figure out and solve the problems.
With observing and learn how a single platoon communicates efficiently amongst its self
to accomplish a task, the thought came into my mind on how all the different platoons all over
base communicated to each other to accomplish even bigger task for the military. For example,
as 2LT Lumpkins platoon finishes a Helos and prepares it to be deployed out, he must
efficiently communicate to other leaders and people ranked above him to find out what his next
forward operation is to accomplish. It is fascinating to see how it works and I cant wait till I
graduate college to join the military as an Officer and be a leader in the United States Army as I
serve my country.
After a long day of taking notes and asking questions, I wanted to interview 2LT
Lumpkin about his job and his experience on going through what I am going through now in
ROTC in college. I wanted to know what I have to look forward to and what needs to be done to
accomplish my goals to my fullest potential.
Official Copy of the Interview in a Military Printable Format Below: Without Water
Marks, Stamp and Logos. I wanted to put it in this format instead of just including it in the paper
because I wanted you to see the uniqueness of how a military document are set up.

UNCLASSIFIED
AFVC-ED-E
MATTHEW J. LUMPKIN
2LT, OD
PLATOON LEADER
15 NOVEMEBER 2014
MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD

The point of contact is the undersigned at 903-312-1883 or matthew.j.lumpkin2.mil@mail.mil.

Officer Duty Description: Serves as the Maintenance Platoon Leader for a Forward Support
Troop which provides direct support to an Attack Helicopter Squadron assigned to the 82nd
Combat Aviation Brigade. Provides ground field maintenance support to 1-17th Calvary
Squadron consisting of three OH-58 Attack Helicopter Troops, one Air Maintenance Troop, one
Ground Maintenance Troop, and the Brigade Headquarters. Responsible for the supervision of
all maintenance operations within and maintaining accountability of over $6 million in TO&E
equipment; responsible for the safety, training, discipline, welfare, readiness, and morale of
seventeen NCOs and twenty-seven Troopers. Additionally, you will serve as the Squadron Unit
Movement Officer, Squadron TC-AIMS II Operator, Squadron Container Control Officer, and
Troop Hearing Conservation Officer.

SUBJECT: Interview of Current Military Officer for Aric Gamble

Q1: What made you want to become an officer for the military?
1. I became an officer because I wanted to lead Americas sons and daughters. I served as an
enlisted Soldier and felt that I would have a bigger impact on soldiers as an officer.
Q2: What college did you attend to become an officer for the military?
2. I attended Methodist University in Fayetteville North Carolina just outside of Fort Bragg.
Methodist was the school that I attended for college but did ROTC training at the host battalion
which was a part of Campbell University.
Q3: What was your mind set going into the ROTC program in college?
3. I was excited to learn but was anxious to figure out how ROTC trained Cadets.
Q4: How was your experience going through ROTC in college your first year?
4. I had wonderful experiences my first year. Cadets that were senior to me set the example and
provided outstanding mentorship. I still speak with many of them to this day.

Q5: How was your experiences different going through your last year?
5. The excitement changed to a routine. I enjoyed learning how to run different aspects of the
company and battalion. The interaction with Senior Cadre increased, allowing for mentorship
from experienced leaders.
Q6: How did your roles change going into the Army as an officer from ROTC?
6. The roles did not change very much. The one big aspect that helped out the transition was the
incorporation of senior non-commissioned officers to assist with the daily operations.

Q7: Was it a difficult transition from ROTC to being an officer?

7. I did not experience a difficult transition since I was enlisted before switching over. However,
I could see where a traditional college student transitioning into the Army would have
difficulties.
Q8: What leadership roles did you take on right away as an officer?
8. See attached duty description above.
Q9: What benefits did you receive becoming an officer?
9. The largest benefit that I received is the pride in my Soldiers. I get to be a part of their
successes and failures. Dealing with this makes me a better Soldier, husband, and father.
Q10: What was your first experience as an officer leading a group of soldiers?
10. My first experience was to move a battalion sized motor pool across post consisting of over
200 pieces of equipment collectively costing over 10 million dollars.
Q11: Would you recommend that someone go through ROTC to become and officer?
Why or why not?
11. I think ROTC is a great way to become an officer. I felt my experience was better because I
could focus on more advanced information since I knew the basic soldiering skills from being
prior enlisted.
Q12: What advice do you have for someone going through ROTC to become an officer?
12. The best advice I can give any Cadet going through ROTC is seek out mentorship from
senior cadets as well as cadre. It is imperative for people to have unbiased, constructive criticism
from subordinated, peers, and leaders.
UNCLASSIFIED