He credits the GI Bill for having allowed him to pursue his true vocation. As an undergraduate at Wake Forest University, Peterson enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). He served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, between 1967 and 1969. After returning to North Carolina with his wife, Clem, he found a job in a bank but soon realized his interests lay elsewhere. With the help of the GI Bill, he obtained an M.A. in education from NC State in 1974 and an Ed.D. from West Virginia University in 1979.