Major Anderson- ROTC Instructor

“I’m a man of faith so I believe that God put me here for a reason.”

Major Walt Anderson, the new ROTC instructor here at West Florence, voices his feelings about being a part of the Knight Nation. He has experience with the military and was also under the influence of it growing up as a military brat. Later he went into the military, despite his father’s advice.

“Actually my dad told me not to join the military,” said Anderson.

After serving in the military, Anderson said teaching ROTC was a dream he had, but it wasn’t always the case. His road to the military and WF was enhanced a little bit by a minor setback during his experience on the football team. He ended up a walk-on and his name was not even known. He decided that he would use the situation and turn it into something positive.

“All that time I’d been devoting to playing football, I devoted to ROTC and to see if I could get a scholarship that way,” said Anderson. He got a two year scholarship from Air Force. After retiring from the military, he entered WFHS with a heart to teach young cadets.

Anderson had a message for the WF student body.

“I hope to meet them and have them use me as an example of what the Air Force can be, not only from the Air Force perspective, but also as a class for them to take and try out… even if they don’t go into the military, there are some things they can learn in our program that will serve them well no matter what they do,” he said.