I can't really view having been able to be selected as an astronaut without what I've learned in the Army and the skills that I developed through my time in the Army. Two things I think that have helped me the most are desire and persistence.

There's no more important aspect of what we do in the Army than us being able to work together as a team. So I think maybe it's a little bit ironic that you look at this very complex system we have and you would think that the greatest challenge and the greatest accomplishment is really the technical side but I would have to say it's really the ability for all of these different people to work together. So I think the most valuable thing I've taken from the Army is the ability for us to learn to work together with each other and to be better by having a group of people as opposed to a group of individuals.