While some Penn graduates in the year 2000 prepared for banking jobs in New York, nursing jobs on hospital floors and spots in law schools across the country, some prepared for a much more dangerous line of work.
Andrew Exum was one of them.
A 2000 College graduate, Exum returned in March from his service in the United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, Exum patrolled land, destroyed enemy hideouts and even took lives.
The Tennessee native became a part of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Penn, but military activities did not dominate his college life. He was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and went on to become executive vice president of the InterFraternity Council. He was also a columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian as well as a member of the lightweight football team and a residential advisor in Goldberg College House.
These achievements were officially recognized by the University when Exum received the Cane Award -- Penn's third highest honor for students -- at his own commencement ceremony.
Exum took the leadership and teamwork skills he honed at Penn and put them to use in a much different way than many graduates. He now serves as an infantry platoon leader in the 10th mountain division and is responsible for 34 men.
The platoon he leads "definitely looks up to me," Exum says. "They know that I'm good at my job."
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, that leadership position has taken on a whole new meaning.
"We had just gone for a long run with my platoon," Exum says. "We got back and somebody just said, 'A plane crashed into the World Trade Center.' At about 10 o'clock that morning we were told to pack our bags and go."
And go they did.
On Oct. 4, Exum's rifle company was sent to Kuwait as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. After a five-month stint in that Middle Eastern nation, the troops were told that they were switching locations -- to Afghanistan -- as part of the army's newly begun Operation Anaconda. The mission of the operation was to hunt down the few hundred remaining al Qaeda forces in the last big stronghold in the country.
"Most of us thought we would stay in Kuwait and not do anything else," Exum says. "We were just so ready. We were actually relieved to finally be going some place where we could put our skills to better use."
The group landed at 2 a.m. at the Bagram air base in northeastern Afghanistan. Two days later, they received orders for their first of three missions in the country.
"Basically, it was a search and attack," Exum says. "We were going to clear a large ridgeline... finding any caves, killing anyone who was hanging around and blowing up the caves."
Exum speaks casually about a dangerous mission, but that might be due to the success he had in carrying it out.
Exum's company effectively cleared the area without a hitch. The platoon leader said that while the troops were overjoyed with their victory, their excitement was muted.
"We were ecstatic," Exum says. "We didn't have any casualties and we were blessed in that respect. We were excited, but it was Afghanistan. We still went home to our tents."
Six hours later, the soldiers received word of their next assignment -- an assignment that proved to be both demanding and complicated.
"We left back into the upper Shah-e-kot valley, deep into the mountains where they suspected some bad guys were," Exum says. "I was with a 12-man patrol to check out an enemy bunker."
Exum's calm and confident demeanor was soon challenged when one of his men spotted an enemy in hiding.
"It was about 20 meters away," Exum says. "I got nervous because I had a lot of soldiers that were trying to clear that bunker... it was a danger to those men."
Exum took two of his men to inspect the situation and found their suspicions to be true.
"One of my soldiers noticed something and said 'feet to the right, feet to the right,'" Exum says. "At that time, I turned, saw something and fired two shots at the feet. He popped up with a machine gun 10 meters away. He was lying in a hole; we could see his torso. Then I fired four more rounds and he fell back down."
The men had successfully taken out their target, but there was cause for concern.
"He was surrounded by a bunch of American equipment," Exum says. "I got really worried. There weren't supposed to be any allied forces in the area but I thought I maybe just killed some special operatives guy."
But to their relief, the platoon soon discovered the deceased was an al Qaeda fighter in possession of confiscated American equipment.
Exum and his men completed one more operation before being sent home. But Exum says his return from war wasn't exactly a scene out of a movie.
"It was kind of anti-climactic," he says. "I don't have a wife or girlfriend. I just went back to my apartment and spent time alone for the first time in half a year."
Despite his low-key attitude, Exum's arrival at home was met with awards and ceremonies. Exum received an army commendation medal at the formal welcome home ceremony, with a V-device -- 'V' standing for valor.
With a valor medal and memories of close calls and victories at the price of other lives, Exum says he is a different man than he was only two years ago at his graduation.
"I'm about 10 years older now," he says. "The greatest privilege of my life was leading American troops in combat, but it was tough stuff. I've got two more years left in the service. I don't think it will be my last gunfight."
