Stuart Christiansen didn’t consider himself to be a “stereotypical army guy.” But while studying linguistics at Brigham Young University, he felt pulled into joining the Army ROTC because of its many language-based career paths. The transition into the ROTC lifestyle wasn’t simple, but Christiansen believes the ensuing challenges have led him to discover new strengths and capabilities.
Christiansen grew up in the small town of Lolo, Montana, and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Adriatic North Mission, speaking Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, and Slovene. He returned from his mission in 2020 with a love for language, leading him to BYU’s linguistics program, where he learned about the possibility of using languages to help others through a military career.
“Serving in the army was the opposite of what I thought I was going to do,” he admits. “But as the class presenters were talking, I felt like I had this lightning revelation that military service was something I needed to look more into.”
So Christiansen researched BYU’s Army ROTC and joined in Winter 2021, despite initially feeling hesitant. “I definitely had my reservations about joining,” he recalls. “But the more I learned about the ROTC program, the more comfortable I felt and the more confident I was that I was doing something I was supposed to be doing.”
During his first year as a cadet, Christiansen noticed he had room to grow as a leader, so he continually aimed to stretch his limits each time he felt comfortable. He even joined the Army National Guard, believing basic training would increase his strength and expand his perspective. “I felt like I would be a better future officer if I learned what it was like to be on the lowest end of the ranking system,” he explains.
And Christiansen soon felt vindicated in believing basic training would push his limits. “I was never comfortable,” he recalls. “If an official walked through our room in the middle of the night and saw that something was off, they’d pull out the entire group—150 people—and we’d be out in the rain at one in the morning doing push-ups until they sent us back inside to get another hour of sleep before we had to wake up.”
While the drills were physically challenging, Christiansen describes that the hardest part was the contention among the trainees. “Sometimes it felt like Lord of the Flies,” he explains. One evening, a fight broke loose, and Christiansen knew he had to do something. “I said a little prayer just to know how to handle it,” he remembers. “And I stood up and went to the group of people that were berating this guy, and I said, ‘Hey everyone! Let’s take a break real quick.’”
As the situation settled down, he took the time to talk to his peers and hear their perspectives, and that seemed to change everything. “By the time we finished the basic training, all the drill sergeants said, ‘How come your platoon is so much more put together?’” he says. “I’m certain that wasn’t all me, but I was tested so often about how to mediate conflict and defuse situations to get people on the same page.”
Fostering an environment of teamwork became Christiansen’s standard, which he applied during an internship with the Department of Defense in Croatia. Under the direction of an army officer, Christiansen was responsible for interfacing with Croatian leaders and coordinating joint training events to help build the United States’s alliance with the country.
“I’d love to know how many conflicts have been stopped before they even started just because of the things that the Department of Defense does to coordinate and maintain peace around the world,” he comments.
After returning from his internship, Christiansen has taken on an array of leadership roles with the BYU Army ROTC. He has been a squad leader, platoon sergeant, and cadet battalion commander—achievements that did not go unnoticed by Army ROTC officers. Among a ranking (based on GPA, physical fitness, ROTC training performance, extracurricular activities, and leadership) of 5,000 cadets in ROTC programs across the nation, Christiansen ranked 15th.
“It hugely blew me away,” he describes. His initial response to the ranking was to reflect back on everything that led him to the feat. “If I had known what kind of things I would be getting into, I never would have thought that anything I’ve done would be possible.”
He took this realization as a lesson to be learned about each person’s individual potential: “It doesn’t matter if they’re a random small-town kid. It doesn’t matter if they’re someone who is not the most in shape. It doesn’t matter if they’re someone who doesn’t feel like an extrovert—I think everyone is capable of so much more than they realize.”
Christiansen will join the military after graduating in April 2025, tasked with directing and coordinating long range artillery fires and leading a platoon of artillerymen. After three years, he will then transition to work in military intelligence, where he seeks to use his language skills and work in US embassies to develop alliances between nations.
Wherever he goes, Christiansen seeks to apply the lessons he’s learned during his time with the BYU Army ROTC. “Being a leader isn’t about you, and it’s not about standing up higher than everyone else,” he attests. “It’s about taking a group of people and helping them work together so that they’re greater than the sum of their parts.”
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Written by Nicholas Day
