Second Lt. William Reed of Atlanta instructs Cadets in the fourth platoon of Charlie Company on how to tread water. Photo by Sammy Jo Hester/LTC PAO
By Noelle Wiehe
Staff writer
Second Lt. William Reed finds it hard to believe the strength and dedication he saw in his mentors when he attended the Leader’s Training Course he now sees in himself.
Just two years ago, Reed was not far from the barracks he is staying in now as a cadre member with the combat water survival committee. He remembers his old battle buddies and the squad tactical officer who helped him pass water survival training when he was struggling, then-2nd Lt. Tyler Rosenecker.
“My old lieutenants walked on water in my eyes,” Reed said. “(Rosenecker) turned out to be a normal guy, and it was a very big realization for me.”
Reed, 22, is a graduate of Lipscomb University where he majored in law, justice and society, with an emphasis on conflict management. He also double minored in criminal justice and general business. Reed commissioned, however, through Vanderbilt University.
At the Leader’s Training Course, he is a leader at the pool where he once struggled, serving as the executive officer of Gammon Pool. He also acts as a lifeguard rescuing Cadets who wind up underneath capsized rafts at another training venue known as Call of the Wild.
Throughout high school and college, Reed, an Atlanta native, bounced around to different jobs. He was a landscaper, a butcher and a physics tutor. His most interesting job outside the Army was as an intervention agent, helping co-workers take charge of troubled youth and shuttle them from their homes to a behavioral facility.
“You have a 16- or 17-year-old kid who is out of control, and his parents decide to ship him off to military school,” Reed said. “He is not going to want to go, so for a fair amount we come in at 3 in the morning and we force him out.”
Originally, Reed had no interest in joining the Army. He was set on becoming a police officer.
“During Will’s high school years, he was very involved in an active explorer’s program with a local police department,” said Reed’s father, Carson. “The varied experiences of public service through that program with many police officers who had military experience was a strong influence on him.”
Reed was sworn in as an active duty officer May 21 and branched ordnance.
Despite previous transgressions, Reed is passionate about being a part of the Army and working with Cadets in LTC.
“The fact that you know that those people around you aren’t going to let you fail, they’re not going to let you down and they’ll always be there for you is a fantastic thing,” he said.
Having been home-schooled by his mom with his sisters as his only classmates until college, he said he had never “conceptualized the social aspect of public school before.” Now, Reed lives with more than 100 other men in the cadre barracks.
“It is kind of like family – you may not like everyone all the time, but they are around you so you are going to take care of them,” Reed said.
When Reed was in LTC, he had a cadre who worked on taking care of him. Rosenecker was there for Reed when he was struggling in, of all things, combat water survival training.
At the time Cadets were not allowed to perform the training with glasses on, but Reed couldn’t see more than two feet away without his. He tried everything he could to succeed, but was still not progressing through any of the stations. Finally, Rosenecker asked him what was wrong.
When Reed told the squad tactical officer he couldn’t see, Rosenecker, standing a couple of feet away, asked, “Can you see me?” Reed could, and Rosenecker walked him through the entire training, which he ended up passing.
While being a frustrating event in Reed’s life, it also earned him praise. After he passed the training, Reed was awarded a commander’s coin for his persistence.
“(Will) has always been a person who found ways of helping other people as well as a person who likes challenges,” Carson Reed said. “The Army is proving to be an excellent match.”
While Reed looks forward to what is next in his life and his career, such as Ranger School and possibly a more-permanent relationship with his girlfriend of seven months, he will never forget the cadre he had alongside him when he was a Cadet.
“Constantly, I am looking back and saying, ‘Wow, I’ve had really great lieutenants at LTC. Am I that good of a lieutenant? Do I need to be better?’ ” Reed said. “These Cadets are going be looking up to me. If I am a bad example, then they are going to be bad lieutenants. I need to be as good as I can possibly be.”
