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While We Live, We Serve | A Legacy of Service
Retired Brigadier General Rick Porter ’78 wears a suit and tie most days. He serves as the G1 of the U.S. Army Forces Command, or FORSCOM, located at Fort Bragg, N.C. FORSCOM, the largest Army command, is a four-star headquarters responsible for providing combat units that are well-manned, equipped and trained before they go into combat. Porter is in charge of getting the right soldier with the right skills to the right place at the right time.
Porter hung up his uniform in 2010, except for special occasions like PC’s annual ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, where he frequently speaks. Decorations on his uniform reveal the loyalty and commitment he showed in 32 years of service to his country.
Awards and decorations like the Legion of Merit, the Master Parachutist Badge, and the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster are the same ones on the uniforms of some of the Army’s greatest soldiers, like George C. Marshall, whose framed portraits hang on the walls of FORSCOM.
Porter is always surrounded by the presence of those, like Marshall, who served before him. Porter’s office is close to the All American Hall of Heroes, where plaques commemorating fallen soldiers line the walls.
All the same, Porter always makes it a point to engage with those he serves with now. He stops to talk with everyone he meets in the hallways, regardless of how decorated their uniform is.
“Every single day, as a leader, you’re building a team,” Porter said. “Every single day, you’re trying to motivate or inspire people, or crews, or groups, to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.”
Porter had the same approach when he led soldiers for the first time. He was in Wiesbaden, Germany, then and was a second lieutenant in charge of 32 soldiers.
“I tried to approach everything just like I would as a coach,” he said. “A coach inspires and motivates his players. He recognizes them for doing great things. He coaches them and helps them get better.”
Porter learned some of his leadership skills from his father, who was a command sergeant major in the Army and served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Porter’s leadership style was also largely shaped by the ROTC program at PC.
Porter didn’t plan to join ROTC when he arrived on the PC campus. Although his father served in the Army, Porter didn’t intend to follow in his footsteps. Instead, Porter had envisioned a different path for himself. He came to PC to play football, major in business administration and join the corporate world once he graduated. But all that changed the summer before his freshman year.
“I remember Coach Cally Gault gathering all the freshman football players in a classroom after practice,” Porter said. “We were still in pads and were all sweaty, and Col. Cameron, the professor of military science, who was a very dynamic and charismatic kind of guy, came in and talked to us about ROTC.”
Cameron went to all of the football practices. He learned the freshman players’ first names and called them by their first names. That meant a lot to Porter, who was 18 at the time.
“He gave us a big pep talk and encouraged us to join ROTC,” Porter said.
Others at PC also encouraged Porter to join ROTC. Dr. Fred Chapman, Porter’s academic counselor during his freshman year, noticed Porter needed to add a class to his schedule and asked him if he had ever considered ROTC.
“I was surprised that a faculty member would be encouraging me to apply for ROTC,” he said.
The seniors on the Blue Hose football team were also a big influence on Porter. One that he and the freshman football players looked up to the most was Bee Carlton, an offensive lineman and team captain.
“He was a role model to us,” Porter said. “He was in ROTC, and Bee and another cadet would come by and visit us in our dorm rooms.”
Carlton encouraged Porter to join, and was always “approachable,” Porter said. “He took the time to talk and didn’t act like you were beneath him,” Porter said. “He was willing to engage or take the time to chat with you at any given time.”
Porter thought about joining ROTC during his first two years on campus. He had to decide at the end of his sophomore year and asked his father for advice.
– Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Rick Porter ’78
“He said, ‘I’ll support you in whatever decision you want to make,’” Porter said. “Once I ended up signing a contract, he was very excited and supported me every effort of the way ever since then.”
While in ROTC, Porter sharpened his leadership skills by leading squads or platoons in weekly drills. Field training exercises gave him more opportunities to lead.
“We were war playing,” he said. “One minute, you’re in charge of an 11-person or 18-person team. You’re influencing and directing people, and you’re establishing priorities of work and effort.”
When he was a senior, Porter led the entire cadre of cadets as battalion commander. He had attained the program’s highest ranking for a cadet but still had no plans to join the Army. Instead, he wanted to serve his three-year commitment to the Army and find a job in the corporate world, armed with a resume and leadership skills he picked up in ROTC.
When he graduated, Porter married classmate Sally Martin ’79. Porter wanted to revisit the places he remembered as a child and asked the Army if he could serve his tour in Germany. He changed his mind about not joining the Army while in Germany.
“The pursuit of adventure, travel and the heart to serve my country led me to join the Army after all,” Porter said.
Plus, he realized that the Army offered him a stable career during unstable economic times.
On his way to earning the rank of brigadier general, Porter proved himself as a leader throughout his military career. He served as commander, chief or director on a number of assignments at home and abroad.
His work during his last assignment as deputy chief of staff G1 for the Army’s largest command impacted 75 percent of the Army. Porter made sure units were staffed properly while also sustaining soldiers, civilians and their families.
LEGACY CONTINUED
While his body of work in the Army is enough to be proud of, Porter is even more proud that his son, Cameron ’15, will continue his family’s and PC’s legacies.
Like his father, Cam didn’t plan to join ROTC or the Army. Like his father, Cam came to PC to play football, major in business and find a career in the corporate world after he graduated. And like his father, Cam changed his mind.
Cam has played sports all his life and always enjoyed being part of a team. Former Coach Harold Nichols and the Blue Hose football players made him feel like part of the team and helped him develop as a leader.
“When you’re in the huddle, the only thing that matters is the team going against you. The guys in the huddle are a band of brothers joining for the same purpose,” Cam said. “And it’s truly the same thing in the Army when you put on your nation’s uniform. The one true thing you get when you serve in any military aspect is genuine, authentic leadership.”
1st Lt. Cam Porter ’15 and his team in Afghanistan.
Cam practiced his leadership skills while a cadet in ROTC, ultimately becoming battalion commander during his senior year. His experiences as a cadet complemented his experiences as a student and as a student-athlete.
“PC gives you the tools to be successful,” Cam said. “ROTC and the Army teach you how to apply those tools.”
Dr. Tobin Turner ’96, associate professor of economics and business administration, and Dr. Suzie Smith ’82, Robert M. Vance Professor of Business Administration, were two of Cam’s professors who taught him the principles and techniques needed to be a successful manager or leader. Cam says he learned how to put those principles and techniques into practice as an ROTC cadet.
“You have an opportunity every week to get in front of different people and try a different leadership style and see what is effective,” Cam said. “You can go back and review it because it’s a no-loss game. You’re not playing with anybody’s money, time or life. But you’re getting those experiences, and getting that feedback, and that really helps to develop you as a strong leader.”
Cam decided to join the Army because of an experience he had six months after he graduated. During a basic officer leadership course, Cam led a platoon of 28 paratroopers. Cam was 23 years old at the time, and the paratroopers he was leading were between 18 and 35 years old.
“I had a sergeant first class who was 35 years old as my platoon sergeant,” Cam said. “He looked at me as a 23-year-old kid, essentially calling me ‘sir.’
“He said, ‘Hey, we’re going to make you successful, sir.’ And that kind of attitude is really what drew me to the Army and be a part of that team.”
Like his father, Rick wasn’t excited at first that Cam decided to follow in his footsteps.
“When Cam was deployed to Afghanistan for nine months, his mother and I both worried about bringing him home safely,” Rick said. “But, just like my dad, I am more proud than you could ever imagine.”
The legacy of the strength of PC’s ROTC program covers generations. The strength of the program is evidenced in the lifetime of service to the Army by Rick Porter and his son Cam’s commitment to be a leader in the Army and serve his country, as did his father and grandfather. •
– 1st Lt. Cam Porter ’15
