When his college athletic career ends, Chris Rowley '13 will begin his post-graduate education.
But his post-grad work will be different from almost every other athlete in the NCAA baseball tournament.
Rowley, the ace of the pitching staff for the United States Military Academy, soon will begin his training as a field artillery officer.
"Fort Stewart," he said. "Second Brigade, Third Infantry Division. That's a unit that deploys a lot. We don't really know where we're going next."
Afghanistan?
"Could be," Rowley said. "The war's winding down. We'll see."
Afghanistan, or any place where they will be placed in harm's way, is not on the radar of many other NCAA athletes. But the radar is different for athletes at West Point.
"There are challenges just like any other university," Rowley said. "We like to say we don't have it any harder than anybody else. That way we don't have an excuse.
"It is demanding. I'm sure that's the same way at a lot of places in the country. We just want to compete on a national level."
Read more about the tradition of Army Baseball
But the athletic life is different at West Point, no matter how bright a spin Rowley tries to put on it.
The pool of athletes from which coaches at West Point have to pick is smaller than most. And once the young men and women are enrolled, they face every challenge of every college athlete, plus everything inherent with attending a military academy.