I graduated high school in 1969. I had little direction or guidance for post high school. My guidance counselor thought that I was not fit for college or a trade school, so I thought I would enlist in the Navy, like my father did during World War II. My wrestling coach asked, "What are you going to do?" I replied, "Enlist in the Navy." He said, "I think you have what it takes to go to college." I enrolled at Ohio State University and signed up for the mandatory two years of Army Reserve Officer Training. I don't believe I "found the Army." I think the Army found me. I excelled as a cadet and signed on for advanced Army ROTC. Following my basic camp in 1972, I received orders for Airborne training at Fort Benning. Upon graduation from Ohio State University in 1974, I was commissioned in the Regular Army, Infantry. I served with Vietnam War combat veterans who guided me and taught me to be a soldier. My leadership training was the best in the world, and it has served me and others well over the past seven-plus decades.