Ben Carroll, Maverick Battalion Cadet Commander
You鈥檙e ranked seventh of 5,579 cadets in the nation. That鈥檚 in the top 1 percent.
The U.S. Army Cadet Command does a national Order of Merit list every year, and there鈥檚 a big rubric that goes into the ranking. I recognized early on that your GPA holds the most weight. So I have worked really hard to try to achieve a聽4.0.
What does a cadet commander do, exactly?
I plan training for cadets and help prepare them for success as lieutenants in the聽Army.
Your situation is unusual in that you鈥檝e already served in the Army as an enlisted soldier.
Yes, I鈥檝e been in the Army for 10 years now. I鈥檓 currently a staff sergeant. I joined when I was 22 after I鈥檇 been in college a few聽years.
How does Army leadership differ from ROTC leadership?
The focus here is academics, so you can鈥檛 really count on people to do things on your authority alone. You have to use a lot of influencing techniques to get people on board with your mission and vision. It鈥檚 challenging, but that鈥檚 good because it exercises those leadership muscles. I have less power as a cadet than I do as a staff sergeant. But if you can lead people without that knee-jerk authority, that鈥檚 real power. People will follow you much farther if they know you genuinely care about and respect them.
Why did you decide to join the聽Army?
It was when 9/11 happened. Not to be too hard on myself, but I was pretty much useless around that time. I was at a community college, studying theater mostly because my friends were doing it. I was failing classes, and in general I just wasn鈥檛 taking anything very seriously. A few days after 9/11, my brother and I agreed that if we liked President Bush鈥檚 stance on how to respond, we鈥檇 go help. That was pretty much聽it.
So you went from aimless community college student to a high-ranking, high-achieving officer candidate at UT Arlington.
When I was stationed in Germany, it was the first time I was completely on my own. And I started to excel. It was like a snowball of confidence because I went from thinking, 鈥淚 never finish, I have no follow-through,鈥� to thinking, 鈥淚 can be good. I am good.鈥� I kind of got addicted to that feeling of achievement. Now that I鈥檓 here, it鈥檚 all focus. There are things I want to do that I don鈥檛 know how to do yet, and I鈥檓 here to learn聽them.
You鈥檒l graduate this May with a business degree. What鈥檚 next?
I plan to retire in the military, but I also want to run my own business. My father was an entrepreneur, and that just makes sense to me. I want to control my own destiny while contributing to the economy and society.
