[pmandal]

Good morning gentlemen:

I originally was going to wait until I commission to introduce myself but decided it would be best to write an introduction so that I can reach out to members on the site (there are quite a few posts/threads that have been answered hundreds of times either somewhere on this forum or elsewhere on the internet and I won't add to that clutter).

In January, I signed my 09S contract for active duty. I want to branch Infantry, Armor, or Engineering. I am currently double majoring in Computer Engineering and Applied Mathematics and am minoring in Physics with a 3.65 GPA and am graduating this month.

I have worked as a researcher at my university and have a book chapter published on neural networks. I hope to publish one or two more papers before I ship to basic as I wish to apply to be an instructor at West Point in the future. I imagine it will be difficult to conduct research while active duty.

As for hobbies, almost all of my free time is spent training BJJ or Muay Thai. I try to train at least 8-10 hours per week. I also run and do calisthenics two to three times per week to increase my max number of pushups, situps, and decrease my runtime. I also like to read and am currently teaching myself Latin.

As far as research for Special Forces goes, I have read Get Selected by LTC Joseph Martin and have read through much of this site. It will be about 3 years before I can even attend SFAS so I am much more concerned about doing well at OCS so that I can branch Infantry.

If any of you wish to reach out or have any advice for me (whether you be SF or not) I encourage you to me a PM. This is the main reason why I am posting in the first place.

Very Respectfully,
Paul