Day in the Life: Josh Matthews

Battalion Commander of JSU ROTC

By: Toni Merriss

Posted: 10/19/06

There are many choices in life to be made - but for some, the choices impact not only themselves but the entire nation. Throughout history, especially in a time of war the armed forces have looked to attract more volunteers.

For one person, this was not a hard decision to make at all.

Meet senior Josh Matthews, cadet Battalion Commander of the JSU Reserve Officer Training Corps (or ROTC).

Matthews, a criminal justice major with a security administration concentration, also serves as the Captain of the Ranger Challenge team for ROTC, which makes his already busy schedule a tad more hectic.

Coming to JSU four years ago was an easy choice for Matthews. He had initially looked into attending West Point, but after considering all the factors, such as having "a real college experience," he decided to look at Jacksonville State.

"I had heard that JSU had the best ROTC program around and, it was not too far from home so it sounded really good. What really sold me though were the facilities that were offered to students in the program," he explained.

So, coming to the conclusion that JSU was the best place for him, he packed up his things in Sardis, Al. and made the move.

Matthews was offered a four-year ROTC scholarship and upon his acceptance was thrust into the military lifestyle. (Well, a small taste of it)

From the beginning, Matthews excelled at ROTC. After his freshman year he was selected to attend Airborne School, in Ft. Benning, Ga. The next summer, continuing on the "fast track," Matthews attended Air Assault school in Ft. Campbell, Ky.

It is a very prestigious honor to attend both of these camps while still in ROTC because there are active military personnel that never get the chance to go.

The summer between his junior and senior years, Matthews not only went to the Leadership Development & Assessment Course (LDAC) in Ft. Lewis, Wa. but also the Cadet Troop Lead Training (CTLT) in Ft. Polk, La.

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.

Some of the other labs have been for drill & ceremony and land navigation.

Drill & ceremony is where the new cadets are trained in basic marching formations. Some of the older cadets are given leadership responsibilities, just to get them used to leading troops from the beginning.

Land navigation is pretty self explanatory. Cadets are instructed on how to reach certain set checkpoints in wooded areas.

For many cadets, like Matthews, ROTC is their first exposure to the military life. Although neither of his parents were in the military, both of his grandfathers were.

"I want to succeed, it is my duty to my country. I want to be the best at what I do. Right now, what I do is ROTC and ranger challenge. In a few months, it will change to the military," Matthews said.

The military lifestyle can be especially hard on the family members left behind when someone is away on temporary duty (TDY) or deployed. "It makes it hard to form a family life but whoever you end up with has to understand that it is your life and what you signed up to do. I guess you just have to meet the right person to understand that sort of thing," Matthews said.

Right now with the ongoing war the pressure is extremely great on those in the armed forces but Matthews feels very strongly about his chosen profession. "I remember on 9/11, I was a junior in high school, and I wished so bad that I was 18 so that I could enlist right then. If I could have, I would have done it," Matthews shared.

Although glad that he waited and joined the ROTC program, he feels that strongly about defending our country.

Joining the ROTC program has allowed Matthews to experience many things that people not in the military will never get the chance to. "I love traveling all over and before I started in ROTC the only places I had been were Georgia and Florida. Since then, I have been to so many places. I probably would have never done that without ROTC," Matthews finished with.