Story by Rachael Tolliver

With a family history deeply rooted in military service, and a love for playing on tanks, Capt. David Rittenhouse knew where his future laid-the U.S. Army.

The self-described "Army brat" is from North Carolina and went to school at UNC Charlotte.

"My dad was an infantry officer," Rittenhouse explained. "I wanted to play on tanks so I (joined as) an armor officer. Then I went into intelligence because I liked the branch, and when you retire there are lots of great job offers with good money."

Currently he commands Company B, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., a unit that works with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

A normal day for him means working with the four different platoons in his command-four different directions for training, resources, and coordinating of other events. Those training events and deployment missions involve the flights and information gathered from the UAVs, and the health, training, and welfare of the soldiers he commands.

Rittenhouse has been deployed twice to Iraq and said that his favorite part of being a company commander is being around soldiers-leading soldiers.

"These guys amaze me with their capabilities and dedication every day," he said.

As a fourth generation Army soldier his history started with his great-granddad.

"And my granddad was in Utah Beach in WWII, my dad served in the cold war-I have cousins that are in too. There is a family history of it-it's in the genes," he explained.

Even though he comes from a long line of soldiers, he still found some unexpected "things" in the Army-for example the education and job opportunity.

"Everyone does not sit in a fox hole or on a tank and there is so much to do," he explained. "There is a plethora of job opportunities within the Army for someone coming out of college and the pay is quite good-especially when you add in the benefits."

But Rittenhouse said his career in the Army goes beyond a love for the service-with his job in military intelligence he foresees a great job outlook because people with his kind of experience will always be in demand.

"The more experience you get the more valuable you are," he said. "You can do everything from being with an infantry battalion to being in a strategic assignment working with satellite communication, (then there are the civilian opportunities)."

He went on to give an example of captains who can make close to $60,000 a year, including any extra pay, and that amount goes up to about $70,000 including the benefits. Then, he said, after their obligations are up they can leave the Army and make around $80,000 a year if they selected a good military job that can transfer into the civilian field.

"Overall, not bad for someone only out of college a little while," he added. "I am at the halfway point-8 and one-half years. I can stay in for the other half and retire with (nice benefits)."

But there is another reason that Rittenhouse recommends the Army as a career or step ladder toward a career-the people you meet and the things you learn.

"Professionally, the Army will develop your organizational and leadership skills, and develop work ethic that many college kids don't have," he explained. "And you meet everyone from the girl from Wisconsin to the guy who lived in the Bronx all his life-there is great cultural diversity."

As for the mission the Army has in the Middle East, he said what he sees his role as now is to "see what (I) can do to better the situation."

"Iraq is getting better due in part to the surge and we said it would work. When this brigade went to Baghdad there was not a day that went by when someone wasn't getting shot and running over several IEDs," he recalled.

"Today you can see a huge difference. The surge is part of that and the other part is (the agreement between faction leaders.)"