All teachers have a certain understanding of authority and discipline, but for CMR teacher Mike Beck, this understanding runs deeper than most.

Serving in the National Guard, he has learned many lessons about life through his service and deployments. 

Beck was born and raised in Southwest Montana. He joined the military straight out of high school.

The Montana native has been in two overseas combat deployments. 

“I was an infantry company commander in Iraq in 2004 and 5, and most recently I was a sustainment battalion commander in Afghanistan in 2018, and I came back this March,” Beck said.

Throughout those deployments, Beck says he learned many things about life that he can apply to his teaching job at CMR. 

“[The military] teaches you how to be organized, it teaches you how to plan, which is very important in teaching,” he said. “It teaches you how to be disciplined.” 

Beck added that the military also teaches you how to instill those values in others, which no doubt helps him get through a day full of freshman classes. 

Leadership is emphasized everywhere, but especially in the military. 

“The army focuses a lot on leadership schools as you go through the various ranks, and that’s really helped me in my classroom management, in understanding students, their needs, and making sure everybody gets what they need,” Beck said.

Beck concluded with something he believes everybody should learn.

 “Everybody has a boss. So no matter who you are, or what you might be thinking, there’s somebody that you have to answer to, and that’s OK.”