ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997 TAG: 9704170063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS THE ROANOKE TIMES
Capt. John Epperly, a Pulaski County native, was honored Wednesday at Washington & Lee.
As soon as Capt. John Epperly arrived at Lee Chapel Wednesday morning, his father pulled him aside.
"I've got a turkey story for you," the elder Epperly said, launching into a hunting tale that ultimately left both man and fowl among the living.
Capt. Epperly, a Pulaski County native now teaching at Drexel University in Philadelphia, was on the campus of Washington and Lee University to be honored as the top ROTC instructor in the nation. His parents, Charles and Barbara, drove up from Fairlawn for the occasion.
It was natural that the Epperly men were soon engaged in a conversation about hunting. In fact, John Epperly was target-shooting with his father when he first laid out his career plans. He was just in the fourth grade, but he told his father, "I want to be an Army man," and announced his plans to attend West Point.
Charles Epperly, a technician at the Pulaski National Guard Armory, is a former Marine who served in Vietnam. He was not surprised at his son's career choice.
"I'd come home after work and he'd have all his little soldiers out and, between homework, he'd have tactical situations set up," he recalled.
In 1989, John Epperly did indeed graduate from West Point. Although he originally opted for the Army because of a fascination with helicopters, he spent his first six years in tank units. Two years ago, his career took a turn when a call went out for more ROTC instructors and he was sent to Drexel.
The ROTC instructor award is sponsored by the American Defense Preparedness Association, an organization representing the military and the defense industry. It was presented to Epperly by Maj. Gen. Stewart Wallace, commander of the U.S. Army Cadet Command for all 230 ROTC units in the country. Present for the ceremony in Lee Chapel were the top cadets from each of those units.
The ceremony was part of the George C. Marshall ROTC Award Seminar, being held at W&L and the Virginia Military Institute through Friday. Among other activities Wednesday, the cadets attended a speech by Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Epperly's award recognizes him for innovativeness in teaching, effectiveness as measured by the success of his students, and his outside work with cadets.
He has taught two freshmen classes, totaling about 60 cadets, all of them officer candidates. As an instructor, he said, he draws on advice he received from his father.
"The most poignant advice I got from him was 'You gotta take one day at a time. You can eat an elephant if you eat it one bite at a time.' There's so much to teach these kids. It's easy to be overwhelmed. But you don't have to teach them to be a Patton or a Rommel in three years."
Epperly serves not only as a classroom instructor at Drexel but also as a military adviser and counselor. He started a tutoring program for cadets having academic difficulties and also designed and taught a mechanized warfare seminar for juniors and seniors when he noticed that nothing of the kind existed for ROTC cadets.
During the seminars, which are part of the curriculum at West Point, Epperly uses models of various terrains to talk about how geography affects tactical decisions during war. He then takes the cadets into the field to help them translate what they learn from models to real life.
"I didn't want them to be behind their West Point contemporaries," he said. "You take care of your troops. I view them as my troops, and they're special troops because they're officer candidates."
Epperly, who has been a full-time student while teaching at Drexel, will receive his master's degree in business administration this year. His next career move may be to leave the Army, he said, but he is confident he's leaving it in good hands.
"The two classes I've taught are going to be the first combat leaders for America in the 21st century," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Epperly. color.by CNB