Adjusting to a Curveball

PROVO, Utah – Apr 09, 2020 – When life threw U.S. Army Brig. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor a curveball while he was a pitcher on BYU’s baseball team, he found a new course with BYU’s Army ROTC program. Both Taylor’s time as a cadet in the Army ROTC program and his time as a member of BYU’s baseball team taught him about collaboration and leadership—skills he uses today as a brigadier general.

Taylor originally came to BYU to play on the university’s baseball team. However, a shoulder injury cut his baseball career short. Following this unexpected change of plans, Taylor joined the National Guard. After returning from summer training, a professor suggested Taylor join the Army ROTC. After visiting BYU’s ROTC department and interviewing there, Taylor decided to join.

The example of leadership shown by the faculty and the sense of community within the Army ROTC program impacted Taylor. “The Army ROTC has great leaders,” says Taylor. “Even when I was a cadet, the ROTC was associated with the BYU Marriott School of Business, and the program had a great set of instructors and faculty that made it a great environment to be a part of, to go to school, to go to devotional and things like that. The program was extremely welcoming.”

As an Army ROTC cadet, Taylor also found a teamwork mentality similar to what he had experienced as a member of the baseball team. “I’ve always been associated with a team,” says Taylor. “And the teamwork and the team feeling that I felt with my fellow cadets is what I enjoyed the most about my ROTC experience.”

Taylor embraced the collaborative aspect found within the ROTC by participating with his fellow cadets in the Ranger Challenge, a competition Army ROTC programs across the nation compete in. While Taylor was on the Ranger Challenge team, the team won two state championships and a national championship.

Taylor also had the chance to serve as a leader within the ROTC program when he was the Army ROTC’s cadet commander. This position of leadership has been followed by multiple leadership positions within the Army. “I’ve had a great career, but my time as a commander at multiple levels have been the most rewarding times for me,” says Taylor. “Being the commander and leading organizations toward a common purpose and a mission has been rewarding.”

As a brigadier general, Taylor has the chance to apply his leadership skills. Taylor was promoted to the position of brigadier general in 2017, and he is currently deployed in Afghanistan, where he leads a team called the Ministerial Advisory Group–Defense (MAG–D).

In addition to his experiences in the ROTC, the BYU baseball coach who recruited Taylor, Gary Pullins, taught Taylor about leadership. “Even as my baseball career was ending, Coach Pullins didn’t give up on me,” says Taylor, explaining that Pullins brought him back to coach BYU’s junior varsity baseball team when he was a senior pursuing his undergraduate degree. “As a leader, you’re going to have people who work hard, but the things they want the most don’t happen. When this happens, Coach Pullins taught me that there are other things to do.”

Throughout his Army career, Taylor has been proud to return to both BYU’s baseball team and the Army ROTC program as a leader. When Taylor returned to BYU for his master’s degree in exercise physiology in the early 2000s, he became an assistant coach for BYU’s baseball team. “That was a fun time,” says Taylor. “I was still in the Army, but I was also going to school, and I came back to fulfill some service to the team.” In 2001 Taylor earned his master’s degree, and the team won the Mountain West Conference title while Taylor was an assistant coach.

Taylor also recently returned to BYU’s Army ROTC program as a speaker at the April 2019 commissioning ceremony. “As I came back to speak, I thought about how many great cadets have gone before and after me,” says Taylor. “Being able to share my experiences and a little bit about what it means to serve was an honor.” 

Returning to BYU’s campus as a speaker also made Taylor reflect on his own time at the campus. Remembering this time, Taylor didn’t focus on the curveball that changed his path at BYU, but rather, he focused on the opportunity for service that lay ahead for the commissioning cadets. “The first day I came on to BYU’s campus in 1986, I saw the ‘Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve’ sign, and that has stayed with me ever since,” says Taylor. “Over the years, as you mature and have experiences, you understand that, and as a cadet who graduates and goes forth to serve as a commissioned officer, you have the opportunity to serve your country, your family, your church, and those around you.”