Students hope to employ training in Iraq

By Emily Fata

Assistant Campus Editor

Publication Date: 01/15/2008

Even as the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq quickly approaches, two Purdue students hope that it will not end any time soon.

"It's not that we're crazy, gun-toting freaks," said Tim Schriver, a senior in the College of Technology and the cadet battalion commander of the army branch of the ROTC program. "But we want to protect people during times of war. This is what we've worked for."

Adam Hines, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts and the executive battalion officer, finds it similar to being on a sports team. "You train and train and train, and when you're finally ready, you just hope the game is still going on."

Hines and Schriver have been active members of the army branch of Purdue's ROTC program for the majority of their college careers and hope to serve in either Iraq or Afghanistan following their upcoming graduations. The ROTC program, which Hines refers to as a "crash course in adulthood," has significantly impacted their collegiate careers.

"I live a dual life. I'm a typical college student, but I'm a soldier first," Hines said. "When I put the uniform on, it changes who I am. It gives me more perspective. It makes me realize that there are things higher than me."

Schriver, however, wouldn't describe himself as a typical college student. A seventh year senior, he spent two years in the ROTC program at Purdue before serving overseas in Bosnia and assisting hurricane victims in Louisiana and Mississippi. He credits his army experience for allowing him to gain global knowledge that might have otherwise never been acquired. He particularly noted his surprise to find that many Middle Eastern soldiers shoot ammunition in the air to celebrate a victory.

"It was a culture shock," Schriver said of his experience overseas. "But I hope to someday return to Bosnia as a civilian."

Although Hines and Schriver manage to attract a great deal of attention when they strut around campus in their camouflaged uniforms, they tend to shy away from the spotlight and have gained their prominent status's quietly.

"To me, leadership is getting someone to follow you because they want to," Hines said. "Not because they have to."