INDIANAPOLIS –
Perhaps nothing is more American than baseball and apple pie, except maybe the U.S. Army, which was born a year before the nation itself.
To honor that legacy, the Indianapolis Indians joined with the U.S. Army Recruiting Division, U.S. Army Financial Management Command and the U.S. Army Indianapolis Recruiting Battalion to celebrate the 251st birthdays of both the Army and the Army Finance Corps during a baseball game at Victory Field in Indianapolis June 12.
Watching from the stands alongside thousands of their fellow citizens were the friends and families of 16 Future Soldiers who had their Oath of Enlistment administered by Brig. Gen. Sara Dudley, USARD commanding general.
“At its core, tonight honors and recognizes the young men and women who are joining the Army in front of a crowd in their hometown,” said Dudley, a native Hoosier who grew up less than eight miles from the stadium. “This is something that brings the city together to celebrate them in a special way that puts some smiles on their faces and gets them pumped before they go to basic training."
“Tonight was really special and gave us an opportunity to get out there and showcase some of the best and brightest of our future generation of service members,” agreed Lt. Col. Kerry Zanders, Indianapolis Recruiting Battalion commander. “It's important to have the community backing them, and the fact that they are here locally from Indiana makes this even more special.”
Zanders, a Special Forces officer for the last 13 years, most recently served as a joint operations officer for sensitive activities at U.S. Special Operations Command prior to his recruiting command.
“We sometimes like to talk about differences in generations, but we, as Americans, are actually more similar than we are different,” he explained. “The same thing that put service members on Omaha and Utah Beaches in Normandy, France, in 1944 is the same thing that's in me and is the same thing that's in those Future Soldiers who raised their right hand to defend this great nation today.”
The Army offers more than 200 career paths where Soldiers work with the latest technology, develop in-demand skills and solve real-world problems.
When asked why a person would want to join the Army, Dudley said the answer was the same today as when she first joined.
“You get to do something very hard, you get to take pride in yourself, and, number one, you learn how to be part of an amazing team,” she explained.
“You also get more leadership skills out of serving in the Army than anywhere else,” the general continued. “You learn how to work through problems, how to overcome your own mental barriers to be able to be successful, and how to lead and run a team.”
While a decision to serve in the Army may last just a few years or several decades, both Zanders and Dudley said the experience lasts a lifetime.
“All those skills you learn are all transferable to the world outside the Army,” elaborated Dudley, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy along with master’s degrees in business and financial integrity. “Our Soldiers and former Soldiers are the ones going out into the United States, setting up companies, running businesses, and are the engine behind the U.S. economy.”
Fittingly, Dudley was also able to help celebrate the Army Finance Corps’ birthday as well. The Finance Corps was established two days after the Army on June 16, 1775, helped win independence, sustains independence, and is now celebrating independence with all of America.
“Every organization, including our armed forces units around the globe, needs resources, people, and things,” said the general, who commissioned as a finance officer. “And, all of those require money. “
The Finance Corps has been a part of the Army from Jump Street, fueling our Army with the money it needs to fight and win our nation’s wars,” she added.
Helping draw attention to how finance and comptroller Soldiers build readiness and lethality across the Army, Maj. Terrell Murdock, USAFMCOM banking officer and executive officer, threw out the first pitch.
While reflecting back on her career in finance, Dudley said her initial plan after graduating West Point was to become an engineer officer, but fate and a couple shoulder injuries changed her course.
“As soon as I put on Finance diamonds and hit my first formation, I was sold,” she recalled, talking about the diamond branch insignia worn by all Army finance and comptroller Soldiers. “I counted millions of dollars every day for the first five years, learning the value of having pressure applied consistently every day as we had to have all the money accounted for down to the penny.
“There are no rounding errors in Army finance,” she added.
That ability to handle pressure and lead is what Dudley said she thinks many of America’s best and brightest are looking for and why they should consider a career in the Army.
“The average age of an enlistee now is 22.7 years old, and they are looking for something hard and challenging,” she said. “The Army builds those lifelong skills that our nation needs beyond what artificial intelligence can provide and individuals who are able to problem solve in ways that only humans can.”
Dudley isn’t alone in her assessment as the Army hit its 2026 fiscal year active-duty recruiting goals four months early and is also on track to hit its Army Reserve recruiting goals, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in nearly a decade.
“We've got a lot of talented recruiters out there finding those who want to be twice the citizens by being reservists,” she concluded. “As reservists, they are able to challenge themselves and serve their nation while keeping their civilian jobs and staying in their communities they love.”