Story by Rachael Tolliver

As a young boy, Daniel McAllister watched Army football games at West Point with his family-his father was in the military-and it profoundly affected him.

Between those football games and growing up with heroes like Eisenhower and MacArthur, who were alumni of West Point, McAllister made a decision as a child to be a soldier in the Army.

McAllister, who graduated in 2005 from the same school as his heroes and who majored in economics, also deployed to Iraq for 16 months with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment. He is now a captain assigned to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson Colo.

In addition to attending West Point, as if that wasn't difficult enough, he also went to Ranger school.

"One of the reasons I chose to be in the infantry is because I always wanted to go to Ranger school," he explained. "It's very challenging and it is one of the best leadership schools out there because you are learning to lead people in the most difficult of conditions."

After having been in the Army for a few years now, he said he feels that some of the things he has gotten out of the service are the ability to deal with adversity and handle the unexpected, and the opportunity to learn a lot about leadership.

"After being a leader in combat and going through schools like Ranger school you learn to lead people in different types of situations," McAllister said. "You are able to handle stress a lot better, I think, than people who are in the civilian world who have not been in those experiences.

"For example, leading troops on a daily basis in a combat environment is stressful-you are responsible for their lives and any decision you make could be a life or death decision."

Since McAllister's family has a long history of military service, he said it was natural for him to want to join. But it wasn't just the "military thing" that drove him in that direction. It was the desire to serve.

"I think everyone should serve their country at some point in their lives and being in the armed forces-there is no better way to do that," he explained. "There are all different types of ways, but in my opinion (this) was the way I preferred to do it-through the Army."