The tension in the Middle East is not constrained by regional demarcations. It has, in fact, seeped into the lives of several Princeton alumni.
Many of those Princetonians whose lives are most affected by the tension in Iraq and other areas of the world are alums of Princeton's Army ROTC program.
"In my opinion, we start with the most talented students in the nation," said Lt. Col. Matthew McCarville, director of the Army Officer Education Program at the University.
After graduating from the Princeton Army ROTC program and going through additional training, students generally choose to go into active duty for four years. After active duty, Army ROTC alumni typically enlist in "individual ready reserve," which also lasts for four years. Officers may be called back for duty, but most are not, McCarville said.
Col. Mark Milley '80 of the 10th Mountain Brigade Division, remained in the military after his period of active duty and as a reserve. During Milley's deployment to Afghanistan, he had the opportunity to visit Iraq as well. Currently, a small percentage of his brigade is in Iraq, with a larger group in Afghanistan.
"Danger and death are there all the time, especially since September 11," Milley said of the Middle East.
"We run patrols day in, day out," Milley said. While he acknowledged that American soldiers in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East run the risk of being wounded or killed, Milley said "[the] sense of commitment is high" among his soldiers.
In addition, he said the number of soldiers already killed in battle in the Middle East is "phenomenally low," especially compared to past American battles, such as Okinawa and the Battle of the Bulge.
"In the aggregate . . . [the U.S. invasion and occupation have] not [been] high in casualties," Milley said. "We attacked [Iraq] with an incredibly creative plan."
Milley said he believes the U.S. has been "enormously successful."
While the press may be quick to report on causalities, Milley said a "lot of good things" are not publicized.
Soldiers have an "extraordinarily hard life" even during peacetime, Milley said.
Milley, who has a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son, has spent at least two years separated from his family for Army-related activities.
Service to the military is more a "religious calling as opposed to a job," Milley said.
An officer and a gentleman
Lt. Col. Christine Charney Cook '86 serves in the 163rd Personnel Support Battalion in Michigan.
Cook "went through the ROTC....[and now has an] obligation to fulfill," Cook's husband Ken, also a member of the class of 1986, said.
However, Cook chose a path unlike that of many Princeton ROTC alumni who opt for four-year active duty. Instead, she joined the National Guard. Membership in the Guard entails a longer service time — over ten years — than the eight total years needed by those who choose active duty and individual ready reserve.
As a member of personnel support, Cook provides soldiers with health services, training and other administrative functions.
Cook's father was a full colonel in the armed services and served in the Vietnam War. Cook's husband said her father was a role model for his daughter.
"When you sign up [for the service], you sign away your rights," Ken Cook said, before describing the abrupt notice sent to Cook this past November to prepare to go to an Army base, where she stayed until she was then deployed.
There Cook's basic skills — such as firing a gun correctly — were tested. Earlier this month, after being approved for duty, Cook was informed she would be going to the Middle East. She arrived in Kuwait on Friday.
Cook's husband said he and his wife did not believe it was inevitable that she would be deployed. Much of the work Cook does can be done via the Internet and therefore does not require her on the front lines. The November notice was indeed "quite a shock," Cook's husband said.
The deployment of his wife has also affected Ken Cook's professional life. A systems engineer for a metal company, he must now play the role of the single dad. He was somewhat accustomed to taking care of their children, D'arcy, 9, and Paul, 5, when his wife had to leave several days each month for National Guard training.
Christine Cook was told her stay in Kuwait is "not to exceed 18 months." If she is deployed for the maximum time, she will miss both her children's birthdays.
Cook has been in or near the unit for 14 years, her husband said, and has grown very attached to the soldiers who rely on her assistance.
Ken Cook admits he and his wife have no real "control over any of this." There are ways to get out of a mission, but dishonorable discharge would be very out-of-character for his wife, Cook said.
Christine Cook has "the highest integrity of anyone [I have] ever met," her husband said.
Student perspectives
Asked why he decided to join Army ROTC, Kyle Torpey '04 said "it's really hard to pin it down to one factor."
The Army ROTC scholarship at the University pays up to full tuition and fees and provides an annual book allowance of $600 and monthly spending stipends that increase yearly.
While money is a factor in deciding to join the ROTC, a "lot of undergraduates [are] doing it out of the goodness of [their] hearts," Torpey said.
Torpey, who has friends who are alumni of the Princeton ROTC program and are currently stationed in Iraq and on the Korean peninsula, said he fully appreciates the "realistic chance . . . [of getting] deployed somewhere."
John Donnal '07 has spent relatively little time on campus, yet he already "really likes the Army."
An aspiring engineer, Donnal plans on enlisting in active duty. He hopes to do engineering work while in the Army. He had been interested in foreign policy even before joining Army ROTC and said he believes the program has not impeded his interest in international affairs.
"They're athletes, they're scholars and they're leaders on campus," McCarville said of students in Army ROTC.
These men and women make a commitment, Torpey said, and those in the program "at least while, they're young . . . want to serve their country."
On-campus training
Lt. Col. McCarville supervises a Princeton Army ROTC program that has existed on campus since 1918. Princeton was one of two Ivy League hosts of the program.
But even the most talented students need training if they are to prepare for service in Iraq or elsewhere.
While in the University Army ROTC program, cadets have several duties to fulfill. The only compulsory summer training in Army ROTC lasts five weeks and occurs during the summer after junior year, according to the program's website. This means most of the cadets' training occurs during the school year.
The mandatory activities include military science classes, which meet once a week. The cadets decide on the meeting times, which are often conducted in the evening. The classes focus on leadership development. Students delve into a wide array of subjects, including problem-solving and decision-making processes, time management techniques and ethics.
Leadership labs are hands-on exercises that provide cadets with the opportunity to apply their classroom lessons. The labs are held about three times each semester.
Once during the semester, there is an overnight training exercise at an off-campus site. The Field Training Exercise (FTX) provides preparation of a duration and intensity that cannot be achieved in a lab.
Physical training in the ROTC "stresses physical fitness as an essential part of preparedness," according to the website. There is also a scheduled team-building physical fitness session each week that all cadets are encouraged to attend.
Cadets also go to at least two additional training sessions during the week.
McCarville, who has been associated with the program for six years, said the "Princeton program has been growing" and the "reason for growth in the program . . . [is that Army ROTC] styles [itself] as the most flexible program on campus."
The program is, in part, successfulbecause of its flexibility to allow students to participate in other extracurricular activities, including athletics.
McCarville said the cadets' participation in the ROTC is not as critical as their involvement in the Princeton experience.
"The Army is trying not only to create security but also to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure and trying to organize a democratic government," Frank von Hippel, co-director of the Program on Science and Global Security in the Wilson School, said in an email.
"Hopefully those Princeton students who are interested in going into the Army will be able to help make the Army more capable in relating to civil society," von Hippel added.
Like McCarville, von Hippel said he sees the necessity of non-combat related knowledge and talent.
Even after graduation from ROTC and the University, some cadets stay for a year or longer to help incoming freshmen and sophomores adapt to the program.
McCarville, a graduate of West Point Academy, said Princeton ROTC cadet alumni — who include the founder of the CIA, an ex-president of Harvard University and Kate Buzicky '02, a recent Rhodes Scholar — are "every bit as outstanding" as cadets from his alma mater.
McCarville said after graduationcadets may be deployed to Korea or other exotic locales.
Despite constant training with arms and combat, McCarville said, "The soldier above all others prays for peace."
"The most professional soldiers do not wish to go to war," he added.
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