James Otto

James Otto Army Interview

Adam Sheaffer: [00:00:01] Could you state your name?

James Otto: [00:00:04] My name is James Otto.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:00:09] And what branch of the military did you serve in?

James Otto: [00:00:12] I was in the army.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:00:15] And what was your role and rank?

James Otto: [00:00:17] I was a military intelligence officer and the last rank I held was major.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:00:28] And when and why did you join the military?

James Otto: [00:00:32] I joined ROTC right out of high school in 1984 and actually got commissioned in 1988. And why did I join? Growing up, it was always important for my family. My father was in. My uncle was in. Serving was always something that was respected in my family, and I thought it would be a good career. Good place to learn a lot of things. And I like the adventure of getting out.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:01:26] And during your time in the Army, did you serve in any wars?

James Otto: [00:01:32] I was deployed and people can consider them wars or not, but I was in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:01:49] And what were some lessons you learned from the Army?

James Otto: [00:01:54] I learned a lot from the Army. Being an intelligence officer, I learned so much on the technical things, as is an officer there is a lot of leadership, a lot of those types of things. But overall, I got to meet people from all over the world. I work with people from I can't even count how many different countries and different parts of the world. Parts of the country. So that was exceptionally interesting to me in everything that I did. And you learn to grow up a lot whenever you're on your own, when you're in a foreign country. Times that I was living off the base in different areas. So, there was a lot that I learned.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:03:07] And after your time in the Army, what did you do after that?

James Otto: [00:03:13] I bounced around after the Army, different places, but the main thing I did was I got a job working with the federal government. Working for logistics. Federal. Federal employee.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:03:34] And what are some of your favorite memories from serving in the Army?

James Otto: [00:03:38] Most of my favorite memories was the people that I met. Some of the most professional, and I hate to say it best, but some of the strongest people that I've met and the people I respect the most, I met the military. I've I've made some very good friends and it's always camaraderie between veterans, even those that weren't in the Army and went to the Navy or Air Force. There's some ribbing there. Even the Marines, there's some ribbing, but there's always that respect for somebody.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:04:31] And what is some advice that you would like to give to the younger generations?

James Otto: [00:04:36] One of the biggest things is having respect for yourself and feeling that you owe the country, the society, your community, something. Whether it's military or not, people that serve should be respected. And whether you serve for a couple of years or serve your whole life. It's not about what you can get out of society or your community or the country. But it's really in what you get back.

Adam Sheaffer: [00:05:32] Do you have anything else you'd like to say or anything?

James Otto: [00:05:36] Other than one of the reasons I actually joined the military was my time in scouting. I was a Boy Scout from the time I was very, very young, went the whole way through a lot of the people that I met in the scouting program or the advisors, the leaders had a military background. And the things that I learned in scouting were very helpful whenever I got to be in the military. So I applaud the the young men today, young ladies today that do Scouting, and actually get involved with it and learn something out of the program. That's all I have.