Why I Want to be an Army Officer

Every child has a dream, and I was no exception to this rule. Ever since I was a kid, I used to dream of joining the Army, to be in combats and fatigues. To me , at that time ,joining in the army meant a great deal and in retrospect, I realize I was never free of this desire. My parents and my immediate family did not bother to rid me of this ambition as they felt that with passage of time, I would come around! But that was not to be. As I grew up, through my teenage years, the urge to join was retained intact. Although I must admit that there were times in life when this aspect went to the backburner. In particular, I was impressed with the personality and the sense of aura that I felt in the presence of GIs/Officers who while on leave, regaled neighborhood kids like me with stories of their travels, exploits and experiences. While in college, the exposure to different types of people from diverse cultures and my experiences in life only served to impress upon me that I had the requisite qualities like aptitude, leadership, team spirit and such like.In the course of this Essay I will be listing out the principle reasons for wanting to become an Army Officer. Why I Want to be an Army Officer Transition of Childhood Dream to Passion As I have already stated, I had this dream of joining the Army ever since my childhood. At that time, the aspects that drew me to this profession were the uniform, glamour and the aura, as perceived by a child. As I grew up, and went to school, I got to know of the various opportunities available to me from an employment point of view. I was extremely good at academics and at sport i.e. an ideal combination of brain and brawn. However, I realized that the desire to join the Army never diminished. If at all there was any change, is in the fact, that I was now more specific with regard to joining Army: as an Officer. With experience and with passage of time I did not realize that the childhood dream had now metamorphosised in to a passion: the single objective in my life. I do not remember when I made this resolve, but somewhere along the line, I had subconsciously chosen this career and I set about the task of turning this passion into reality. What could have attracted me so much to join as an Army Officer? It definitely was not the pay package alone, as I have qualifications that can fetch me larger pay packages in other professions. I know it was the aspects like aptitude, leadership qualities, patriotism, glamour, esperit-de-corps, physical fitness, chance to travel and man management skills that convinced me that I was ideally suitable for this career. Leadership I had extensively read the military Campaigns of all the important conflicts and wars that have taken place in history. I assessed that the outcome of all these wars crucially depended upon the quality of leadership available to the winning sides. Examples of sides with much lesser resources in terms of man-power, weapons and logistics defeating much bigger forces are in abundance in history; the common denominator to all these victories being the astute and capable leadership they were fortunate to have. I felt that I possess most of the qualities that these leaders possessed, qualities like quick decision making, factual analysis, good management of scarce resources and a sharp mind; in combat situations. I feel strongly that I have all the leadership qualities required to be a good officer and this is one of the principle reasons that I want to become an Army Officer. Besides, the other motivating factor related to leadership is the loyalty, trust and confidence that one enjoys from the subordinates and colleagues. This is the measure of a person’s leadership and personally I value this form of recognition as it is very satisfying and exhilarating feeling. Aptitude While examining the recruitment related brochures, I realized that I had the requisite attribute in ample measure for becoming an Army Officer. I had both; the academic qualifications and the physical excellence required for this demanding profession. This implied that I had the mental robustness and physical sturdiness required to be a good officer after I completed my training and joined the assigned unit. Besides, I have extensive capabilities of self introspection, assessment, analysis and a very good capability of discriminating between right and wrong. I am also aware that I have always been ‘an out of the box thinker’ and in life I have the distinction of consistently coming up with simple solutions to complex problems. Since, I already posses most of the officer like qualities and the few that I do not posses (social skill) will form part of acquired character traits after I complete my training. Patriotism The 9/11 attack and the consequent loss of innocent lives filled me with a deep sense of outrage, anguish, and impotent fury. I realized that we had taken our freedom and democracy for granted all this while, and were never really concerned with matters of national security or protecting our freedom. I wanted to contribute in the retribution, in the nation’s resolve to set matters right. How could a band of terrorists ever dream to do this to us? Are we perceived as a nation of easy going people, whom any one can attack and get away with it? I am not a proponent of vigilantism, but I definitely would like to contribute to the national effort. This would give me a deep sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that I have paid back to the nation for all it has bestowed me with as an unconditional right. Pay Package and Glamour The pay package is not very high but I guess it more or less evens out in the long run. I have gone through the various literatures and realize that there are quite a few perks and privileges that if quantified, can make the pay and remuneration look even bigger. In any case, this is not a major consideration factor as from my view point, the pay is reasonably decent. Besides, it is the glamour factor that I consider equally important. The chances to travel to distant places, (which I have only heard of or studied in school) interact with different cultures and people are yet another motivating factor. Job Satisfaction I strongly believe that to have sustained peace of mind and inner happiness, it is essential to be doing a job which one likes and from which one derives satisfaction. I do not see any sense in pursuing any other career wherein the pay package may be higher, but the job satisfaction is far from achieved. At the end of the day, it is not worth it if one is not satisfied with the work one has have been doing. If I join as an Army Officer, I do know, that the parameters are strictly laid down and that they have to be strictly adhered to. But since these are uniformly applicable without bias and discrimination, I feel convinced, that I will derive immense job satisfaction References http://www.army.com/enlist/officer-candidate-school.html extracted on 15 May 07 for the official website