Cadet says West Point ‘is a great fit’

The Woodrow Wilson graduate said the Army will likely be his career.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Matthew Rosebaugh isn’t the typical West Point cadet.

It wasn’t until he was serving with the Army in the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq that he even thought about enrolling in the military service academy.

At 24, he’s seen a lot more of the world than most cadets who enter West Point right out of high school.

He was in Iraq from the start of the invasion by U.S. forces in March 2003 until January 2004. It was during that time that a group of soldiers were talking about things they did at home before the war, and his second lieutenant began talking about West Point and what it was like.

“I said, ‘That sounds like fun. How do I get in?’” Rosebaugh said.

When the lieutenant realized that Rosebaugh was serious, he helped get the online application process started. Completing the forms took months, as Rosebaugh’s parents had to fill in some information and the documents had to be sent back and forth through the regular mail.

Rosebaugh, who now lives in Boardman, said he was able to get his West Point physical while still in Iraq, although he had to drive 30 miles one way to see a dentist and 30 miles another way to see a doctor.

He got accepted into the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School in New Jersey, beginning classes in 2004 and finishing in 2005 before enrolling at West Point.

He’s completed two years at the academy, where he’s majoring in military history, and plans to graduate as a second lieutenant in 2009.

Hometown Visit program

Rosebaugh is a cadet corporal, and his grades and standing at West Point entitle him to participate in the voluntary Hometown Visit program. This sends cadets back to their home communities to talk to high school students and others about the education the service agency has to offer.

“I’m not here to recruit anybody,” Rosebaugh said, but informing young people about the service agency option “can put a spark in people’s minds.”

Personally, West Point is “a great fit,” Rosebaugh said. “I love what I’m doing. I’ve been in the Army, and I look forward to going back to it.”

He said his officers were role models for him, and he wants to provide that same service to others. The fact that he’s already been an enlisted man will give him a good perspective on problems that soldiers under his command might face, he said.

He’s earned the Distinguished Cadet Award, is on the dean’s list and has won other honors. His extracurricular activities include WKDT Radio, Jewish Choir, Spanish Club and German Club.

He said he chose to enlist in the Army in 2002, 11 months after graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School.

“I didn’t really have a plan for what I was doing after high school,” he recalled, noting that plans to attend Florida State University fell through and he didn’t take advantage of some academic scholarship offers from The Ohio State University.

“The Army was something I was thinking about for a little while,” he said, adding that he got to serve as a forward observer in Iraq, calling in close-support air and artillery strikes, a job he wanted to do.

The Army will likely be his career, he said, noting that his short-term interest is aviation and he hopes to go to flight school and fly helicopters.

There’s also the possibility of graduate school and the military will pick up the cost in exchange for an eight-year commitment upon graduation from West Point.

Rosebaugh is the son of Mark and Christine Rosebaugh of Boardman and Victoria Maiorana of Youngstown.

gwin@vindy.com