Day in the Life: Josh Matthews
Battalion Commander of JSU ROTC
Toni Merriss
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: Features
Being the Battalion Commander is no easy job. A lot of heart and sweat goes into Matthews' job that many people do not realize.
The week begins early on Mondays with physical training (PT) at 0600 (6 a.m.). The Ranger Team does PT with the rest of the battalion but they tend to step up the intensity a bit. The reason for this is that they have competitions throughout the year against other schools doing various activities but PT is a large part of their competitions.
Later in the day, Matthews attends a staff meeting with the other cadet officers and the cadre (the ROTC instructors) discussing the various activities that are planned for the coming weeks and months. At night, Matthews has quite a bit of paperwork to do preparing for Tuesday, his busiest day of the week.
Again, his day starts out with pt beginning at 0600 and ending at 0700 (7 a.m.). After PT, Matthews meets with the other MS IV's (seniors) or the Ranger Team and makes sure everyone knows what is going on with their activities for the day.
Matthews grabs a quick shower at home before heading off to class for a few hours. He takes time for a lunch break before he has to be up at Rowe Hall (the ROTC building) for class.
At the end of class Matthews conducts yet another meeting (can anyone see a pattern?) with his MS IV classmates.
"Many of the meetings are actually run by my XO (Executive Officer), Rusty Palmore. My job is mostly planning everything with LTC "Chip" Hester and then delegating what needs to be done," Matthews said. "If things are running smoothly then I know I did my job well, but if I am running around doing things at the last minute I did not."
The MS IVs are in charge of instructing the underclassmen in the Military Science labs that are held on Tuesdays. So Matthews first checks to make sure that everyone knows what is going on for the next week's lab, then he checks on the lab that is scheduled for that day.
The ROTC labs vary in activity from week to week depending on is needing to be worked on. The first week of school the lab consisted of the cadet activation ceremony, which is where the Professor of Military Science (PMS), LTC Hester, passes the "baton" on to the incoming battalion commander, and the entire battalion takes a group photo.
The week begins early on Mondays with physical training (PT) at 0600 (6 a.m.). The Ranger Team does PT with the rest of the battalion but they tend to step up the intensity a bit. The reason for this is that they have competitions throughout the year against other schools doing various activities but PT is a large part of their competitions.
Later in the day, Matthews attends a staff meeting with the other cadet officers and the cadre (the ROTC instructors) discussing the various activities that are planned for the coming weeks and months. At night, Matthews has quite a bit of paperwork to do preparing for Tuesday, his busiest day of the week.
Again, his day starts out with pt beginning at 0600 and ending at 0700 (7 a.m.). After PT, Matthews meets with the other MS IV's (seniors) or the Ranger Team and makes sure everyone knows what is going on with their activities for the day.
Matthews grabs a quick shower at home before heading off to class for a few hours. He takes time for a lunch break before he has to be up at Rowe Hall (the ROTC building) for class.
At the end of class Matthews conducts yet another meeting (can anyone see a pattern?) with his MS IV classmates.
"Many of the meetings are actually run by my XO (Executive Officer), Rusty Palmore. My job is mostly planning everything with LTC "Chip" Hester and then delegating what needs to be done," Matthews said. "If things are running smoothly then I know I did my job well, but if I am running around doing things at the last minute I did not."
The MS IVs are in charge of instructing the underclassmen in the Military Science labs that are held on Tuesdays. So Matthews first checks to make sure that everyone knows what is going on for the next week's lab, then he checks on the lab that is scheduled for that day.
The ROTC labs vary in activity from week to week depending on is needing to be worked on. The first week of school the lab consisted of the cadet activation ceremony, which is where the Professor of Military Science (PMS), LTC Hester, passes the "baton" on to the incoming battalion commander, and the entire battalion takes a group photo.
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