Man with a Plan

Tall, calm, and confident, Andrew Howerton ’12 is a man with a plan—as in, he knows exactly where he wants his life to go and makes sure every step moves him in that direction.  Take his choice of university, for example.

As a prospective student Andrew visited all the major universities in Texas, but after experiencing Aggie culture during two weekends with the Corps of Cadets, he made up his mind.  Texas A&M was the college for him.  The Corps offered the clearest path to his career goal—becoming an Army civil affairs officer—the academics were top notch, the campus was rich with tradition and supercharged with spirit. 

“I didn’t apply anywhere else,” he admits unabashedly.  “It was A&M, or I needed to rethink the rest of my life.”

As it turned out he didn’t have to—rethink the rest of his life, that is.  He got into A&M, Company B-2, and an international studies major with a minor in Arabic, also chosen to prepare himself for his future career.  So the plan is obviously on track, a fact that will become even more apparent when we tell you Andrew serves on the Corps Staff as … you guessed it … the 2011—2012 Civil Affairs Officer.  Is this guy focused, or what?

All About the Service

At this point you may be wondering, “What’s so great about being an Army civil affairs officer, anyway?”  As far as Andrew is concerned, the main benefit is the chance to help others, a desire kindled on a couple mission trips to Mexico during his junior and senior years in high school.

“Being able to play with the kids,” he recalls, “while I helped build an orphanage was a great experience.  The orphanage was completed during my senior year; I actually got to see bricks I laid become part of an entire structure!  All of that leads to my future career.  Service to others, especially internationally, is what I’m most passionate about.”

Meanwhile, he performs his selfless service closer to home.  As a matter of fact, as Corps Civil Affairs Officer, Andrew works under the Corps Commander and Deputy Commander to coordinate all cadet volunteer efforts.  It’s a big job.

“We give record amounts of hours,” he says, then smiles and shakes his head.  “It’s pretty crazy, and it’s hard to keep track of, because so many different people in the Corps go and do stuff on their own, it can be hard to document.  But we think it’s somewhere around 30,000 hours of service a year—about 15 hours per cadet, which is really nice.”

With all that community service under his belt, it’s easy to see why Andrew looks forward to joining the Army’s humanitarian effort and the opportunity to work with local leaders to help dig wells and open schools … among other things.  But before he gets to win hearts and minds in civil affairs, he’ll have to pull a stint in military intelligence and take the Captain’s Career Course.  All part of the plan.

Balance, “A Huge Challenge”

Of course, hands-on experience alone does not a future Army civil affairs officer make.  What happens outside the classroom becomes truly valuable when it dovetails with what Andrew learns inside the classroom.  The coursework is key to a broad understanding of the world, and the major’s required 10-week study abroad in Amman, Jordan, did wonders for his Arabic.  Problem is, Andrew has to do it all and maintain a high GPA, if he’s going to keep his berth with Army intelligence.

“Balancing the Corps and academics is a huge challenge,” he admits.  “I could spend every minute of every day working on civil affairs stuff, because there’s always more the Corps can do.  But I’m also a student.  I have to study and make the grades now, if I want to continue on with my career later.”

Challenging though the balance may be, Andrew also sees it as an opportunity, a glimpse of the way things will be a few years down the road.  Learning to balance priorities now will translate into a skill he’ll be able to use for the rest of his life.  A major plus in a life full of pluses.

“I’ve learned so much in my studies,” he enthuses, “and the Corps has given me the opportunity to do the things I want to do later in life right now!”

Like having his cake and eating it, too, right?  Way we see it, education doesn’t get much better than that.

In addition to his post as Corps Civil Affairs Officer, Andrew is one of two public relations sergeants for the Ross Volunteers.  He has also been involved in the Model Arab League, the Model U.N., the Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA), and Aggie Ambassadors.  He loves Texas A&M and the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets and says he’ll be sad to leave this May.

For more information on the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets, please visit http://corps.tamu.edu/.

You’ll find information on SCONA at http://scona.tamu.edu/index.html.

Contributed by:
Kathy DiSanto, Communications Specialist
Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs
kdisanto@tamu.edu

Photo by:
Chris Weachock