Army Personal Narrative

We were told to get in rows and stand at the positon of attention, this was frightening. We were told to run to the bus from here, this is where I was split up with everyone I came with. The base was three hours away from the airport. On the bus ride over there I called and texted everyone I knew for three hours. I called Jed first, he could not talk long because he had a meeting, although I knew if I called my mom or Ayden they would both cry and that would make things harder on me. After I talked to Jed and he convinced me everything was ok after 20 minutes of me crying to him as if he could come pick me up and take me home. After this I texted Boone to be sure he made it on a shuttle, he did. Boone was on the Shuttle behind me. That was the last time I talked to him until the day after graduation. We made it to the reception building at nearly 11 o’clock and briefed until about one. We finally got to bed at 2, and we were woken up at 4:30 the following morning. During reception they checked our dental, blood type, eye sight, etc. this is where we received our uniforms, and most importantly where we met our first Drill Sergeants. In receptions Drill Sergeants are almost done with their contracts, they cannot make you preform corrective action, or give you RBIs, all they can do is get really close to you and scream as loud as they could. I was here for seven days, and then after those seven days were

The first thing did that put me in this situation in the the first place is when i was late to final formation becuase I ended up falling asleep after coming back to the battery after class. The one main army value disregarded was duty. It was my duty to make sure that i was up and ready for final formation, but instead i' gave into my weakness of being tired and was not even smart enough to set an alarm to make sure even if i' did fall asleep i would still make it to formation. For my careless action it ended up in my receiving a counseling from the sergeant on duty that night. My first counseling was to write a 1000 word essay on the importance of being on time.

CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Two weeks prior to graduating ALC I received a text message from my Platoon Sergeant explaining that I would be flying to Fort Bragg, North Carolina the day after returning to my home station for a two week long training exercise. Understanding that my main task would be to diligently prepare for a training exercise while simultaneously preparing for what is easily the most crucial assignment you complete while at 12Y Advance Leader Course, I managed my time accordingly and was able to complete my Tactical Briefing and began to mentally prepare for one day off before getting on a plane and setting up my GEOINT cell in Fort Bragg to conduct another training

That night our last assignment was to escape from a prison camp nestled in the jungle not far from our location. We were formed up in platoon size chunks and marched down a dusty road with instructions to periodically peel off into the woods when the guards were looking in groups of four. The march began and the Sgt. gave the word that every 30 seconds a different group would run for the woods and work their way to friendly lines. Now with my group we had an officer candidate for West Point when he graduated this phase of training, and he didn’t let us forget that. We were all the same rank though for the moment and we would see what leadership qualities he lacked shortly thereafter. When it came our time to bolt we charged out through ditch

It left me feeling proud of my choice, but worried about the others being able to work together as a team. Next our seven drill sergeants were called to attention by our commanding officer to give their “drill sergeants creed”. After what seemed like an eternity of standing holding a extra 100 pounds of gear we were told to empty our personal bag. Everyone was given the opportunity to turn in any contraband such as cigarettes without any repercussions, and inventory of our belongings were taken. Again we were called to attention and I was hoping we were going to get some rest from the stress and the cold. We then got split into different platoons and the two drill sergeants for our platoon seemed to have a angry intimidating way of addressing us. They barked and shouted loud enough to make you jump when they walked by. They gave us thirty seconds to fall out and make it to the third floor of the barracks. Everyone shoved one another against the walls up the stairs and one recruit fell resulting in him getting trampled a few times. The shouting from everyone including the drill sergeants echoing in the small gray concrete stairwell was enough to cause mass confusion.

I had just reported in to my new troop and been assigned as a Section Leader in First Platoon. I made contact with my Platoon Sergeant, SFC Cruise, and had my initial inbrief. I was told that the whole troop was going undergoing a reformation and we would be getting several transfer Soldiers from Headquarters Troop and other units from the Squadron. We discussed the training upcoming training calendar and had no training events until January when Gunnery would begin. This gave us four and a half months to build our team. In addition to the incoming Soldiers, there were the veteran members of the Platoon which include the other Non-commissioned Officers and several Soldiers.

This is one story I’ve never told before. Not to anyone… It all started a few days, we made contact with the enemy. It was quite scary when this all began, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. The birds were chirping, the wind was whistling to the sound of Yankee Doodle, and we were marching to the tune. It was all great until we had to keep quiet. The commander yelled at us and told us to get down and shut up. It took us a few minutes before we realized we were being ambushed. George, the guy laying next to me, Stood up and started to shoot and holler. He was making so much noise it was drawing attention to him and myself. I saw some troops on the other side start running towards me with their guns out. So I did what any other person would

The job I want after high school is the Army. My MOS in the army would be Infantry 11x. Infantry is the backbone of the army, and there is always a demand for infantrymen. Infantrymen duties are to defend the country against any threat by land, and capture, destroy and repel enemy ground forces during combat. For this job in the Army it only requires a high school diploma, GED, or another high school equivalency degree.

Long before I was given this assignment, someone asked me, “What was the most significant day in your military career? Was it a promotion, a graduation?” Up until April 2nd of last year, my answer would have been my graduation from Drill Sergeant School or the day I got pinned as a Second Lieutenant. I can remember both of those days in very crisp detail. However, those days pale in comparison to the events of 2 April 2014. In retrospect, it was an Army day like any other. I was a Department of the Army Board Recorder at the Human Resource Command at Fort Knox, KY and at the time, I was leading the Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Major to Lieutenant Colonel Board as the senior board recorder.

In the fall of 2015 I was given orders to report to Baumholder, Germany. I had anticipated my first assignment eagerly ever since I signed up for the Army in March of that same year. Without any idea what to expect, I dove in blind. The early days of my assignment in Germany were lonely, confusing, and misguided. I know that I was extremely anxious to impress my peers and supervisors. I knew that if I showed I was the best, I would not have to worry about being seen as the child I was used to being seen as. All of the pressure from coming to a new unit had me on edge. I met Sergeant Phillips shortly after my arrival to Germany, and needless to say we did not ‘hit it off’. We had troubles in the beginning but I would not have integrated into this Army so well if it weren’t for the guidance and example of Sergeant Adam Phillips. Sergeant Phillips made a lasting impression on my life professionally and personally.

Major Luck took command, and he was much more dynamic. Still, I was surprised the typical operational pilots who didn’t have a job like mine; they just called in to ask if they had a mission that day and if not, they just stayed home. Maintenance was improved, but it still was nothing to write home about. We learned that we would be training about a year, and transferring the entire unit to Vietnam. About three months before deploying to Vietnam, I traveled to Washington to request the Aircraft Officer’s Maintenance Course (AMOC). I met the detailer and asked him what the chances were to get AMOC. He reviewed my record and said: “Well you have a fine record, let me see what we can do”. He left the room and when he came back ten minutes later he said: “You’ve got it; here are your orders to report to Fort Eustis. Wow, I

This is a story I have shared with my soldiers, other soldiers, employees and managers. The story itself is a little out of context by just telling it, but it is still

Man it was so hot i had to take my jacket and riding in the tanks and trucks really didn’t, but it is nothing compared to what we are facing right now being trapped behind a blow up vehicle. At one point during this North Africa raid we were pinned down by a sniper, i was one of my crew members get shot in the lungs then he did something really stupid he held up a piece of paper, i yelled to him to put it down before he dies or gets one of us killed then his best friend ran out to him that’s when i heard the sound of the Gewehr 98 then i saw the privates best friend get shot in the head i saw the red mist come from his head and then his body hit the ground and then Private David Purpel screamed for his friend then the sniper finished him off. That's when i decided to flank the sniper so i ran to where i might be able to see him but i still couldn’t see him then i looked down at my belt and felt around for a grenade i had one but we really couldn’t trust this type of grenade but i had to believe that it would work so i pulled the pin and then i used a my power i had left to throw it into where i thought the sniper was, then i heard the captain yell to the other “ there he is get him” that's when i heard thompsons to .30-.06 i heard the yells coming from the sniper it was the best sound

For me, those months at the academy were the beginning of my carrier as soldier in Viet Nam Republic Army. This period was filled with many intertwined happy and sad memories.