Benjamin Goff first developed his love of history when his father read him David McCullough’s 1776, the best-selling book about the Revolutionary War and the birth of America.
He was six.
“From then on, that was all I could think about,” Goff recalled. “I remember playing alone … just running around like I was one of the soldiers.”
Seventeen years later, Goff is no longer pretending to be a soldier.
Stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant Goff is a Fire Direction Officer, which entails leading a group of soldiers to ensure the safety, accuracy and efficacy of a 155-millimeter howitzer.
But he still loves history. Before joining the military, he majored in it at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences while also attending the Army ROTC program based at the USC Price School of Public Policy. The two programs, he said, were ideal preparation for the military.
The ROTC enhanced his leadership skills and prepared him for the extraordinary physical and mental rigors of military life. History gave him the perspective and knowledge that inform his command.
“It’s important to be fit and fast and strong just so that your men and women that you lead can see that,” he said. “But then you should also be worldly. You should understand things. Because when they ask you why their job matters, you better have a compelling answer because you’re going to ask them to do unbelievably hard things and things that might kill them.”
Goff grew up in Boulder, Colo. His father is a lawyer who earned his law degree from USC, and his mother is a former pharmacist who is now a floral designer. Both came from modest backgrounds to build a comfortable life for themselves and their son. But they weren’t about to let their son take the easy route.
“My dad was very good at pushing me to say, ‘Look, we’ve provided you a little bit of a blanket in case you really fall flat on your face, so go make something of yourself and do what you find interesting.’”
His first step toward that goal was to attend USC. No, not the University of Southern California – the other USC, the University of South Carolina. Goff transferred in his junior year to the West Coast USC on the recommendation of his father and a former girlfriend, who was already a Trojan.
“She said, ‘You’ll love it here.’ And she couldn’t have been more right,” Goff said. “I met some of the best friends that I’ve ever met in my entire life that I still talk to all the time.”
Having already attended ROTC at the other USC, Goff easily transitioned into the program at USC Price.
“I love my country. I love what I get to do. I loved USC. I was so lucky to go there.”
Benjamin Goff
USC began hosting the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in the 1940s. Its graduates include highly decorated military and civilian leaders — including four-star generals, astronauts, Medal of Honor recipients, and officials in the highest levels of government service. But the university’s military involvement dates back to 1914, when it opened a training school for U.S. Army officers.
Goff recalls his ROTC experience fondly, although its demanding field exercises tested him physically and mentally. He credits Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Kim, Professor of Military Science and leader of USC’s Army ROTC program, with setting rigorous standards that helped prepare him for military leadership.
“I mean, he put us through the wringer.” Goff said. “But I’ve called him multiple times and thanked him for preparing me adequately for leading soldiers because it can be a very thankless and difficult job sometimes. And he understood that intimately.”
Kim was quick to return the compliment: “Benjamin was a thoughtful and resilient cadet who understood that leadership requires both physical readiness and a clear sense of purpose. ROTC field training is intentionally demanding, but it is structured and supervised to teach cadets to make sound decisions, work as a team, and care for soldiers under stress. It is great to see Benjamin applying those lessons while leading soldiers today.”
Goff envisions transferring to military intelligence once he’s promoted to captain.
“I love the intelligence world … but I wanted to be a combat arms officer when I was young and could do it,” Goff said. “I was counseled, especially by Colonel Kim … that you will be grateful for understanding the battlespace in a way that career military intelligence officers have a very hard time doing because they’ve never been the guy out there that’s receiving intelligence reports.”
No matter where his future leads, there are few fundamental ideas and memories that will guide him.
“I love my country. I love what I get to do. I loved USC. I was so lucky to go there,” he said. “My entire life has been a story of interesting events because other people believed in me, and that’s a pretty cool thing.”
