Return to the "POINTER VIEW"
                         December 5, 2003

One cadet, one 2003 grad named Rhodes Scholars

By Jim Fox
Asst. Editor

The Rhodes committee announced Nov. 22 that Cadet 1st Class Amber M. Raub and 2nd Lt. Daniel I. Helmer were two of 32 Americans named as Rhodes Scholars this year.

The oldest of the international study awards available to American students, it was created in 1902 by a provision left in the will of Cecil Rhodes, a British philanthropist and colonial pioneer. Recipients spend two or three years studying at the University of Oxford in England.

Helmer and Raub are the 81st and 82nd West Pointers to receive Rhodes Scholarships.

Helmer, a USMA Class of 2003 member, was scheduled to graduate from the Armor Officer Basic course at Fort Knox, Ky., Wednesday and will be stationed at Fort Carson, Colo. His unit, the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) is stationed in Iraq.

As a new second lieutenant, Helmer said he expects to receive two weeks additional unit training before going overseas. The 22-year-old from Colts Neck, N.J., said his unit should return around April, in plenty of time for his studies in England.

Helmer said he hopes to win over his future classmates on his return.

"Some of them will not be able to separate their dislike of American policy from their opinion of an American soldier," the former military history and Arabic major said. "However, I hope that most people will be intelligent enough to ask me about my experiences as an officer and to allow me to tell ‘the Army story’ to them."

Helmer said his master’s studies at Oxford would most likely center around international relations. The former Army men’s gymnastics team member said he is still trying to figure out what being named a Rhodes Scholar means to his career.

"I think it means that I have an even greater responsibility to never fail my country, my Army or my soldiers," Helmer said. "It means that I have to take on the intellectual challenges as a student of Oxford to serve my Army as we seek to define and fight the threats of the 21st Century."

Raub is an aeronautical engineering major who has branched signal corps.

The 21-year-old said she plans on aiming for her masters in either engineering sciences or business at Oxford and hopes eventually to work as an engineer for the United States space program.

The Columbiana, Ohio, native said her selection as a Rhodes Scholar is an incredible honor.

"The committee believes that I have something to offer to both the U.S. and the world and I hope to prove them right," Raub said. "It is a testament to the incredible people in my life that have helped me get to where I am today: my family, friends, teachers and mentors."