In honor of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, The Citadel is featuring some of the college’s outstanding veteran students representing different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

There are more than 330 veterans and active-duty students currently studying at The Citadel as either undergraduate or graduate students. They can take classes as day students alongside the Corps of Cadets, evening students with other non-cadet students or online. The Citadel’s Veteran Student Success Center also offers resources to these students to ensure they have an easy transition and excel here.

Named #1 Best College for Veterans in the South for seven consecutive years, the Military College of South Carolina is honored to help our nation’s heroes advance their education.

Q&A with Aaron Beste, Class of 2026

Aaron Beste is a veteran undergraduate student at The Citadel majoring in Mechanical Engineering. After joining the U.S. Navy at just 20 years old, Beste served for almost 10 years. Now a husband and father, he appreciates how possible The Citadel makes earning your degree while still maintaining a life at home.

At what rank did you leave the military? How long did you serve? What was your time in the military like?

I left as an E-6, and I served in the Navy for about nine and a half years. I was a nuclear submarine mechanic. Initially, I came to Charleston in 2013 to go through nuke school here in Goose Creek. That was two years, and then I spent four years on a submarine out of Georgia, the U.S.S. Florida. Then I came back here and was an instructor teaching people how to operate the submarine, and I did that for about four years.

Did you come to The Citadel immediately after retiring, or do something else in between? How did you hear about The Citadel?

Not immediately, I took about a six-month break. I was in the interview process for a position at Google, and they ended up going with someone else, so I thought it was a good time to go back to college.

How did you hear about The Citadel?

Since I lived here before, and then after leaving the military came back and bought a house, I had heard about The Citadel. I was between The Citadel, Charleston Southern and College of Charleston and finally settled on here.

What are you studying at The Citadel? When do you expect to graduate, and what do you want to do after?

I am studying Mechanical Engineering. I really enjoy the small class sizes and the size of the campus. It’s kind of interesting because when I was in the Navy as an instructor and we had civilians, they were sort of the oddballs. So now I’m here, I’m the civilian and they’re all military people, so I guess I’m the oddball now! I’ve seen both sides of it. I expect to graduate in May of 2026. Afterwards, I may go back to teaching like I was before, like teaching how to operate nuclear reactors.

What experiences from your military service have prepared you to be a better student and/or citizen?

Yes. I went to college for about two months when I was 18, and I didn’t have the discipline to continue going. Now, I treat this like a job because, I mean, I’m getting paid to come here so I do my work.

Are there any advantages to being a veteran at The Citadel? What’s your favorite thing about The Citadel as a whole?

Definitely the small class sizes, and I have not had an instructor that I didn’t like. I like the online offerings The Citadel has over the summer, because it essentially allows me to be a stay-at-home dad while my son is not in school while also earning my degree.