Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Second Lt. Tory Petersen is ready for what lies ahead, and it’s likely that will involve a tank.
Petersen, 22, graduated from West Point on May 26 and, last week, headed for the next step in his military career, Basic Officer Leadership Course II at Ft. Benning, Ga.
“That’s so they can train new lieutenants in basic soldier skills,” he said. “It’s a refresher for most of us.”
For Petersen it’s the realization of an ambition he’s had since he was a sixth-grader at Holley School. That was when his dad Todd took him to a Civil War re-enactment, after the release of the movie “Gettysburg.”
Petersen became the youngest member of a re-enactment group based in the Aurora area and, his mother Michelle said, watched “Gettysburg” three times in a row, “back to back.” That was when, in seventh grade, he decided he wanted to go to West Point.
In high school, Petersen played football, wrestled and went out for track and field for three years before working his senior year.
“I had a pretty good group of friends,” he said. “We were pretty nerdy. We played video games a lot.”
Two weeks after graduation, in 2003, Petersen was off to West Point where, every year for the next four years, he did nine months of academics and trained every summer.
There weren’t a lot of choices.
“The first two summers, you have absolutely no say in your training,” he said. “After that you can have a wish list.”
After two years of core courses, which all cadets take, Petersen started his major, electrical information technology systems, which was a unique program that was a hybrid of industrial technology, computer science and electrical engineering.
“I did that for a year, then realized that even though I liked playing video games, computers were not for me,” he said.
The problem was that unlike most colleges, West Point cadets are required to finish in four years. Petersen had finished three and now he wanted to change majors.
He did, to European history, but he couldn’t start over and tack on an extra year of school, so he essentially completed two years in one.
“This year, I had almost 50 credits in two semesters,” he said. Plus, he was a platoon leader in his cadet company, which meant he was responsible for the behavior of nearly 30 other cadets.
“I had to make sure they stayed on top of their grades,” he said. “If they got in trouble, I had to write a report. If they got into really big trouble, I had to go stand in front of the boss. That was a full-time job in itself.”
Cadets are also required to participate in intramural team sports, if they aren’t playing intercollegiate sports, so Petersen wrestled and competed in grappling, which involves submission holds not allowed in normal wrestling.
He said that physical fitness is a must, since cadets are tested regularly.
“If you don’t (stay in shape) and fail, they hammer you,” he said.
With college behind him, Petersen will stay at Ft. Benning for six weeks, then go to Ft. Knox, Ky., where he will take an armor officer basic course to prepare for service in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Ft. Irwin in the Mojave Desert in California.
At Ft. Knox, he will train on tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
He said that training will involve new developments in the Army, in which armor and infantry have always been separate divisions in the past, but “now they’re starting to blend the two together.”
When he goes to Ft. Irwin in December, he will likely help train units for service in the war areas, though he said his unit could be sent there.
“Every unit that goes to Iraq or Afghanistan goes (to Ft. Irwin) to fight that unit, who play the bad guys,” he said. “I could end up doing anything.”
Petersen said he’s glad to be in the Army.
“It’s a lot different than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “(But) it’s what I always wanted to do. While garrison life is a little boring, nothing beats going out in the field with other soldiers and doing your job.
“Not a whole lot of people my age can do stuff like this.”