The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) welcomes Capt. David Perez to the university to help serve in striving to teach students to succeed in a multifaceted environment.
Perez serves as the new assistant professor of military science while simultaneously serving in the active duty.
Perez is originally from Pennsylvania and commissioned into the Army from Penn State University.
Perez has traveled the world throughout the past eight-and-a-half years. He first went to Virginia, and then was in Hawaii for three-to-four years before serving a year in Afghanistan. The U.S Army is designed for officers to explore different routes and career opportunities.
“The Army calls this a broadening opportunity, it kind of takes us away from our MOS… it takes me away, and kind of just broadens my development as an Army officer, and it gives me an opportunity to impact the future officer corp. because these students that join [ROTC] some of them are going to be logistics but some of them will be infrantry some finance….they’ll all go different ways but this gives me a chance to groom these officers and develop leadership skills in a broad base that is relatable in any field,” Perez said.
ROTC enhances students’ ability to adapt to new environments and aids in balancing academics, extracurricular activities and leadership responsibilities.
Students learn to time manage and how to work effectively in a team. Perez hopes to enhance the ROTC experience for students and be able to influence them to be exceptional individuals.
“Capt. Perez provides a great amount of military experience, having served in the Army for 10 years at different leadership levels. His experience brings an integral education asset to assist in development and mentorship of Cadets into future Army Officers…. Dave brings an abundance of energy and creative thinking to the ROTC program. His eagerness to coach, teach and mentor young college kids into becoming ‘better’ not only in serving the nation as an officer, but also in contributing to society, is exceptional and well received by the ROTC Cadre and Cadets,” Professor of Military Science Lt. Col. Victor Diaz said.
As an ROTC student there will be several challenges that will test your boundaries both physically and emotionally. However, these challenges are beneficial for a student’s personal growth and development. Capt. Perez is determined to lead and help students succeed in all their endeavors.
“Here at the TAMUK ROTC program we strive to challenge ourselves in order to become the best leaders possible. Our cadre, like Capt. Perez, have led soldiers from squad to company sized elements and that kind of experience and expertise you cannot find anywhere else,” MS4 student Jose Gutierrez said.