Photo By Cpl. Jaewoo Oh | Capt. Robert L. Shepherd, a Greensboro, Ala., native, and operations officer for the...... read more read more
CAMP CASEY, South Korea - For Soldiers, challenges surface whether they want them to or not. From physical injury to social stress, challenge alters human behavior.
Capt. Robert L. Shepherd, battalion operations officer in charge, 70th Brigade Support Battalion, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S Combined Division and a Greensboro, Alabama native, always dreamed of becoming a civil engineer. However, his plans changed after he was accepted to Alabama A&M University.
“Initially, when I went into the University, I majored in civil engineering but realized after the first few weeks that civil engineering did not actually fit me,” said Shepherd. “Although I was good at math and physics, my passion was to help other people.”
At the age of 20, Shepherd decided to enlist in the Army, in order to pay for his college education.
“I didn’t want my parents to pay for my tuition, so I decided to join the Army for the education opportunities,” said Shepherd.
As Shepherd moved up in rank as an enlisted servicemember, he became a professional Soldier and gained military experience and skills.
For a competent Soldier like Shepherd, the decision to become a commissioned officer was not easy. Fortunately, he had a role model who mentored him before deciding to change his career path.
“The real challenge is becoming someone who is able to plan and see the ‘bigger picture’ versus a person who executes a plan,” said Shepherd.
Shepherd took a giant leap forward by becoming a U.S. Army commissioned officer after serving as a noncommissioned officer for over a decade.
“When I was a young sergeant as a multichannel transmission systems operator, a warrant officer really inspired me to push further with my military career,” said Shepherd. “He was an inspiration because he too transitioned from an NCO to a warrant officer and to a commissioned officer. Thanks to him, I was motivated to challenge myself and go after my goals.”
Shepherd was one of 150 recipients out of 1500 enlisted servicemembers accepted to the Army’s green to gold program in 2008 and remained on active duty for the two years he had to train in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) while he completed his undergraduate studies at Troy University.
“I really appreciate the time in ROTC because it allowed me to learn a lot of the things about officer-ship and make necessary changes to my ‘NCO’ ways,” said Shepherd. “The biggest challenge of completing the transition was changing my thought process.”
Shepherd earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in July 2010.
“He is a professional Soldier and an outstanding thinker,” said Master Sgt. Parrish Byrd, a Battalion operations noncommissioned officer in charge at 70th BSB, 210th FA Bde., 2nd Inf. Div. “He is an officer who listens and also shares his years of experience.”
“Captain Shepherd is different from other OICs because he has got the experience to connect with two worlds,” said Byrd a Sanford, North Carolina. “He can talk enlisted business and the officer business at the same time which captivates his audience by knowing both sides of the house.”
“I think the true value within the military is not about assignments we do, but it is about leaving a legacy that impacts not only for my Soldiers, but also for my peers,” said Shepherd. “In the end, as I continue to develop myself to learn and grow as an officer, I want to make them think, ‘if that person can do it, I can do it too’.”
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.25.2015 03:24 |
| Story ID: | 177175 |
| Location: | CAMP CASEY, KR |
| Hometown: | GREENSBORO, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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