100 Years of ROTC: Sam Sasser

Sam Sasser, of Alpharetta, Georgia, will become a U.S. Marine Lieutenant when he graduates from Georgia Tech in Spring 2018 with a degree in International Affairs. He hopes to become an infantry officer.


''Why did you join ROTC?

My father was a Marine AH-1 Cobra pilot from the late 1970s until 1991. He taught me a lot about the Marine Corps, and about the Armed Forces in general. He, in conjunction with what I had read about the exploits of the Marine Corps in its illustrious 242 years of existence, convinced me that if I wanted to be a member of arguably the finest fighting force in existence, I needed to be a Marine. When I got ready to graduate high school, I knew that I wanted to be a Marine officer, so I applied for the Marine Corps ROTC scholarship and placed Georgia Tech at the top of the desired schools list.

What do you expect to get from your military experience?

“In the fleet, you have to find a way to balance honesty and fairness with understanding and compassion.”

What is your personal philosophy of leadership?

My style of leadership is still a work in progress, an amalgamation of a number of styles I have been exposed to either personally or through written accounts. I have an ongoing internal dialogue about leadership, and I often find that how I wish to lead is at odds with how I want to be seen. At Officer Candidate School, they were incessantly telling us to be brutally honest, that we weren’t there to be liked, but that was a training school. In the fleet, you have to find a way to balance honesty and fairness with understanding and compassion.

How have your experiences in ROTC and Tech helped shape that philosophy?

What I have learned over the course of the last three years is how to temper idealism with pragmatism, to put the needs and well-being of your subordinates before your own, and to know the people in your command well enough that you can spot issues with them and address them before they become a severe impediment either to personal performance or mission accomplishment.

What advice do you have for those coming behind you considering ROTC?

Looking back on my college experience, I wish I had partaken more in the social aspect; I was always so afraid of getting in trouble (in particular for underage drinking) that I missed out on some unique experiences. I really do regret that. By no stretch of the imagination would I exchange my success in ROTC and in earning the title of U.S. Marine for a more exciting college experience, but everything doesn’t have to be so absolute. There’s no real reason that you can’t have a good time in college and still find success in ROTC; it, like everything else, requires balance and prioritization. You’ve got to be able to visualize your goals, chart a course that will allow you to achieve them, but along the way, stop every now and then and smell the proverbial roses. But hey, I got to shoot an AT-4 once, so maybe I had more fun than I’m letting on.