THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190433
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
One of Col. Michael D. Rochelle's most prized possessions is a .45-caliber pistol, the kind of ``personal protection weapon'' used in the Army from 1909 until the 1980s.
The gun was hand-carved from wood and painted to look authentic. It was a gift from a civilian employee when the colonel completed his second assignment with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky.
``If the noncommissioned officers are the backbone of the Army, then civilians are the sinew. Together they make the Army strong and vibrant,'' said Rochelle, 45.
The Norfolk native became the commanding officer of Fort Monroe in Hampton following ceremonies April 13 when he relieved Col. William B. Clark, who is retiring after 30 years in the Army.
Rochelle came to Fort Monroe in July, after graduating from the Army's War College at Carlisle Barracks, Penn. He served as assistant deputy chief of staff for base operations support at the garrison for the past eight months before taking command of the 17th-century post.
The eldest of nine children, Rochelle grew up in Norfolk. He was a member of the Mount Olive Baptist Church, located on Rugby Street. A few years after his parents divorced, his mother remarried and the family moved to New Jersey, where Rochelle's stepfather was stationed in the Navy.
After graduating from high school in Rhode Island, Rochelle returned to Norfolk, where he entered Norfolk State University and its Army ROTC program. He graduated from NSU in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in foreign languages and was commissioned a second lieutenant.
``My uncle, Charles Rochelle Jr., had been an Army paratrooper in the Korean War and he probably influenced me more than anyone to seek a military career,'' Rochelle said. ``It was his whole demeanor, the way he carried himself, his pride and love of the profession.''
Rochelle was always ``focused'' as a young person, he said. He was an honor student in high school and college, and the senior ranking cadet in ROTC. As a teenager he was outgoing and caring as well.
``I decided early that I wanted to be an officer in the Army or the Air Force,'' said Rochelle. ``I learned responsibility early. That's a tall task in any family, but especially so in a large one.
``I was taught to take pride in what you do. Then, when the job is done, you can walk away from it with a sense of having made a difference.''
Col. Jim Wood, professor of military science at NSU, was a classmate of Rochelle's. He, too, says the young man was focused. His family had a great deal of influence on him, but Rochelle was largely ``self-developed.''
``He was studious but well-liked, and he knew how to have fun,'' said Wood. ``He had a mentorship mindset, always willing to help other students. I think he has changed over the years; he's become even more focused.''
Rochelle will serve for two years as the commanding officer of Fort Monroe, home of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and the Joint War Fighting Center. The post employs 3,500 military personnel and nearly 2,000 civilians.
He has not had time to set specific goals for his tenure, but ``anytime you are given the opportunity to be a commanding officer, it's a great honor. I hope to continue to be a good steward of our resources, and take care of all the soldiers doing their jobs here.''
Rochelle has been married for 25 years to his childhood sweetheart, Grace Hickman of Norfolk. The couple has three children: Shernita, 24, a law student at the University of Maine who was recently accepted into the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps as an Army lawyer; Shawnette, 18, a West Point cadet due to graduate in '99; and Michael Jr., 14, a freshman at Phoebus High School.
Rochelle said his Army career has broadened not only his attitudes, but those of his children as well. He said living all over the world has made the entire family adaptable and outgoing.
But he credits his four years at NSU with giving him ``a strong sense of ethnic pride and great self-confidence in the academic arena.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Col. Michael D. Rochelle, new commanding officer at Fort Monroe in
Hampton, credits his four years at Norfolk State University with
instilling in him a sense of self-confidence and pride.
by CNB