There is more to this Reserve Officer Training Corps student than meets the sharpshooter’s eye.
Chris Corrow, a senior in political science, is a member of the rifle and pistol team for ROTC. He was in first place this year going into the National Rifle Association Collegiate Nationals and was fourth after the competition.
“I wasn’t happy with the way the competition went because it was so close, but I shot really well,” Corrow said.
He also received the First Team All-American award. Surprisingly, Corrow has not been shooting all of his life. He was never active in shooting until he came to OSU. It is a requirement of ROTC that everyone joins a club within the unit.
“I had gone shooting a couple of times before, so I thought it might be kind of interesting,” Corrow said.
Not all of his shooting experiences have been positive ones. At last year’s nationals, Corrow had an embarrassing moment. He had his coat wadded up on the desk where he was shooting so he could rest his hand between shots.
“There is a rule in shooting that you don’t put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire,” Corrow said.
Unfortunately, he forgot. He was nervous and shaking a little bit, and then he heard a clicking noise.
“It sounded exactly like when you hear someone in the movies shooting a pistol with a silencer on it,” Corrow said. “I had a huge hole in my coat. It was definitely the stupidest thing I have done.”
Corrow became interested in the military when he was in high school.
“I really didn’t have a lot of direction when I was in school, but then I took a political science class,” Corrow said.
He became interested in politics and government. Then he wanted to work in foreign relations.
“I decided that I wanted to be in the CIA, and that one of the best ways to get into it, is to be in the military,” Corrow said.
It also helped that his family had a military background. Most of his father’s side of the family was in the Navy and most of his mother’s side of the family was in the Marines.
“Once I started talking with the people in my family, they got me really fired up about it,” Corrow said.
He finally decided to go into the Navy ROTC program after talking with his cousin who was in the Navy. He could go into Naval intelligence and that in turn would lead to the CIA.
However, since then Corrow has decided to go into the Marines. At first he had huge misconceptions about the Marines.
“I knew nothing about the Marine Corps. I just thought they were so cocky,” Corrow said.
After working out with and making friends with people in the Marine Corps, he decided he would fit in better with the Marines.
“There is just something different in the Marines Corps. They have a stronger brotherhood that is just hard to describe,” Corrow said.
He also thinks he can get more out of the Marines because he can really use his marksmanship skills.
“There is an old saying that every Marine is a marksman,” Corrow said. “I will get to be out in the field with my soldiers this way.”
Corrow is honest when it comes to his grades.
“I struggle. I am not very smart, so I have to work extremely hard to get the grades that I do,” Corrow said.
He does not like to make excuses when things do not go as planned. He wants to find out what happened and fix it so the same thing does not happen again.
“I’m a perfectionist, and when I don’t excel it really (ticks) me off,” Corrow said.
Other things make Corrow upset. He thinks people on campus make assumptions about the ROTC.
“People think we are just these stupid Marines who don’t know anything about other aspects of life,” Corrow said.
He is a perfect contradiction to this stereotype. Corrow has a musical and theatrical background. Before high school he wanted to be an actor, and he was involved in plays.
Corrow still has a strong musical side. He plays the piano and guitar and was in the OSU men’s glee club his freshman and sophomore years. He took voice lessons last year, and whenever he goes home to New Jersey, he sings at the church where his mother is an organist.
“I don’t have a lot of free time, but I do still try to write songs in my spare time,” Corrow said.
He has a plan for both his short-term and long term-goals. This summer he will be going to Officer Cadet School, a basic training-type environment.
“It’s yelling, screaming, lack of sleep and all that crap,” Corrow said.
Then in the fall, he will be graduating and receiving his Marine commission. He is not sure exactly how long he will stay in the Marines.
“I don’t want to be one of those people who is only in it for the mandatory time. I will stay until it stops being fun,” Corrow said.
When the fun is over, he still wants to be involved in the CIA or maybe the Secret Service.
“It would be awesome to be a Secret Service sniper,” Corrow said.
Corrow likes to see himself in a positive light.
“I believe that I am a fairly well-rounded individual who has a deep love of my country,” Corrow said.
His family agrees with him.
“Chris is very determined. Once he gets something in his head, he focuses on it until it is accomplished,” said Jim Corrow, his father.
Both his family and friends have good words to say about Corrow.
“He is your typical college kid. He goes out and gets drunk, but he is a good friend and will help you out when your in trouble,” said Jason Golladay, Corrow’s roommate and a sophomore in computer science at Columbus State.
His mother agrees with this.
“He has always been very compassionate towards others,” said Ann Corrow, his mother.
She said his military beginnings go way back.
“He always liked playing soldier,” she said. “There would be teams of kids in the neighborhood pretending to be G.I. Joe’s.”
