NU grad recruits in New York for Air Force

By Natasha Waggoner
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

In 1985, David C. McCormick graduated from Norwich and was commissioned into the United States Air Force. Now, 17 years later, he is a Lieutenant Colonel commanding the 313th Recruiting Squadron.

"I'm commander of the 313th Recruiting Squadron, which is stationed in Syracuse, New York," said McCormick. "We're responsible for recruiting in New York and Vermont, and as part of our recruiting responsibilities we go around to different colleges and set up booths and so forth."

McCormick does a lot of recruiting among college graduates who did not think about the military upon graduation.

"In terms of my professional role, it's coming to the campus, explaining Air Force opportunities for graduates who have thought about the military too late to join the ROTC program but who have an interest in becoming an Air Force officer, pursuing flight training, or maybe going into engineering or sciences," McCormick said. "We have over 100 different career fields; we even have a need in the Air Force for doctors and dentists."

Since being commissioned in 1985, McCormick has held many different jobs in the Air Force.

"I've been an Air Force officer since 1985, but within the Air Force I've had several different jobs," McCormick said. "I graduated and went to undergraduate missile training, and I was a missile launch officer for four and a half years."

The Air Force sent McCormick to graduate school, where he received a Master's degree.

"I got a Master's degree in Operations Research from the AF Institute of Technology, which is our own graduate school," McCormick said. "I did that full time."

McCormick also worked in the personnel center doing personnel analysis and figuring out how many people were needed in different career fields. Following that he worked in the Pentagon.

One job in particular sticks out in McCormick's mind.

"The high point of my career is being a squadron commander. Not everyone has the chance to be a squadron commander, and that's a very challenging job," McCormick said. "There's a selection process, and only maybe 20 or 25 percent of the Air Force officers ever get a chance to be a commander, so that's a privilege and solemn responsibility, and there have been a lot of rewards with that."

According to McCormick, his experience at Norwich was a challenging and overall good experience.

"Like many things in life, at first it may seem overwhelming; it may seem as though it's something that's going to kill you, but the truth is I think it made me a stronger person. I think it taught me the value of teamwork; it taught me self-discipline, and it taught me a lot about accountability," McCormick said.

One of the most exciting parts for him was getting to see a lot of the service perspectives, according to McCormick.

"Different speakers would come in from the other services. General Todd was president when I was here, and he would bring in speakers like the Army Chief of Staff or a retired general or admiral," McCormick said. "It was a wonderful opportunity to hear the perspective of these people and hear them explain how Norwich produces leaders, and there is a huge shortage of leaders in America."

According to McCormick, saying that Norwich produces leaders with experience is one of the best things that can be said about the University.

"One of the highest compliments I think that can be said about the University is that they just don't graduate people who are good in their area of study," McCormick said. "They produce people that have leadership experiences and who can go into the workplace and not only are technically competent but lead teams as well."

McCormick was originally in Kilo Company and lived in Dodge Hall, but by senior year he was in Headquarters living in Gerard Hall.

"We lived in Gerard, and I was Cadet Major of the Inspector General (IG) senior year," McCormick said. "That was a very challenging and unpleasant job; you weren't welcome in most cases if you had to start talking to other cadets and students."

Most of the issues they dealt with revolved around Vermont College in Montpelier.

"We had Vermont College back in those days, so most of the issues surrounded cadets going up to the Vermont College in Montpelier and doing things they shouldn't have done," McCormick said. "But we did our job and tried to do it professionally and tried to follow the golden rule and treat people as we'd like to be treated ourselves."

McCormick was also a member of the pistol team at Norwich.

"I was a competitive pistol shooter, and there was a pistol club," McCormick said. "We got a pistol team formed and competed at the varsity level against the other service academies and MIT, and these schools had really strong competitive pistol teams."

In 1984-1985 Norwich was the number two ROTC pistol team in the country, and McCormick was All-American.

"I had the opportunity to do well and was All-American in '84-'85, and I had a chance to go shoot at the National Collegiate Championships," McCormick said. "I've gone on to compete in the Air Force, and I'm on the Air Force pistol team, now, and I have the distinguished pistol badge, which is pretty rare honor; there have been only 325 issued in the whole history of the Air Force."

Along with all his accomplishments, coming to Norwich and receiving a great leadership experience is an opportunity he is very glad to have had, according to McCormick.

"I would say don't underestimate the value of the leadership experiences that you've received here," McCormick said. "Leadership is what we need in America today, and leaders are what Norwich produces, and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to go to school here."

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