My Career As A Soldier

I have been serving in the Army for 18 years. I did four years in the Marines. I am currently working in Fort Drum as a Sergeant Major. My job is Infantry.

My Mother and Father relocated from Costa Rica to New York City where they met got married and where I was born. When I was just two years old, always wanting the best for us, my father moved our family from New York City to Jacksonville, FL in search of a better paying job and the American dream so he could provide us with a better quality of life. To ensure we were always clothed and feed, my father sacrificed everything for us and worked long hours to do so. Though I did have a pronounced, safe and active upbringing the North Florida school system didn’t expect much from the Hispanics that were starting to move to the then small town; unfortunately since my parents worked so much they expected the school system

“Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement,…” says Brennan Manning, is what most soldiers felt at Valley Forge. The year was 1777, eighteen miles out of Philadelphia. George Washington’s army, known as the Americans, were keeping an eye on the British, for any attack. There is war in Valley Forge, and illness all over the camp. Since I have already served my nine months, I want to stay homeland. I have decided to not re-enlist because for three reasons which are: lack of supplies, weather conditions, and illness/death.

I seek to be an Infantry Officer to be able to lead men up close and at the front of battle. I want to be able to directly influence the tide of battle through new innovative ways of leadership, tactics, and strategy.

I’d spent the past month debating whether to take a ten thousand dollar pay off and sign the next three years of my life away with the prestigious Minnesota National Guard. I’d have thought I know better after my “try one” year enlistment and my ensuing eighteen month deployment to Kosovo.

With the doomed job market and my inability to find work, I decided I would join the military. I talked this decision over with my mother and she decided that I was not allowed to join the Marines or the Army. With those options completely removed from the table, it was down to the Air Force, Coast Guard, or Navy. In my opinion, the Air Force seemed boring so I applied to the Coast Guard and the Navy. The Coast Guard took nearly three months to reply to my online information request, whereas the Navy recruiter called me first thing the next morning. The process went very quick and within four months, I was on my way to

My darkest hour was also the moment I became a man. When all my years of training, all the blood, sweat, and tears of running, aiming, skills training, and hand to hand combat had finally been put to the test. My first kill. It wasn’t a proud moment but it was one on necessity and choice that I’ve played over and over again and I still get the same result. It would have gone exactly the same.

I’ll never forget the day, stepping off that bus, and lining up on those yellow footprints. I had arrived to Marine Corps boot camp in January 2007 at the age of 17. Feelings of nervousness, excitement and even a little fear, were all setting in simultaneously. The round hatted Drill Instructors informed me and the new enlistees that we no longer had names, and were now called “Recruit”. At the time, I was still wet behind the ears and did not know much about life, yet I thought I did. Joining the United States Marine Corps was the beginning of my transformation from a boy to a man.

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.

Growing up as an Army brat had some disadvantages. Constantly moving, going to different schools, living in places that did not even speak English well, and most importantly not a stable support system. I did not really live with my parents until I was ten years old and that was short lived it only lasted four years. My parents were always getting station to a different military base or felt like we needed a bigger house. I was basically raised by my grandmothers, which was nice sometimes but I really wanted to be with my parents. A typical day when I was little went like this: wake up at my grandma’s house or at the local military base daycare, go to school, pick up from school by the daycare or my grandma, have an afternoon filled with all sorts of activities so I would not notice my parents were not there, go to my parent’s house, do my homework and eat dinner with them, pack my suitcase for that night, and return back to my grandma’s house. I moved so much that this college is my eleventh school I attended, which is sad since I never went to pre-kindergarten. Attending school was very much harder for me. I was bullied for being plus size and not

As a United States Soldier, one of the first things learned is the Soldiers’ Creed. The focus of the creed is loyalty, duty, and respect. The Warriors’ Creed is also found within this creed (in italics). The memorization of this statement of beliefs is mandatory and is learned during basic combat training. A soldier is expected to know and be ready to recite it during drills, formation, ceremonies, and upon request, but most importantly, a soldier is expected to live it.

I was eighteen when I joined the National Guard Army and here began a new chapter in my life. My military occupational specialty (job) I chose was to be a combat engineer. From here they assign you to where you will be transferred with those of the same job. One of my first assignments was basic training which took about three months and another assignment a year later at advanced individual training (AIT). I felt depressed and nervous leaving my family and girlfriend behind twice, but the time went by smoothly with letters and phone calls it kept me going. Unfortunately, things turned around so quickly after my arrival from AIT I was told I was being deployed months after. The longest and toughest nine months I had to live with when leaving

So when I turned eighteen, I and some of my classmates flew to the neighboring island to see the United States Army Recruiter. My recruiter showed me a video of what an infantryman does and I was sold, then told him that this is the perfect job for me. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. It was hard for my parents to accept that I was joining the Army, especially my mom, all she could think of was that I was going to war and bad things could happen to me. She didn’t want me to experience that kind of life and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing one of her own children. So the day I flew off to basic I told my parents, “Everything will be fine trust me”. This was my first time leaving the islands and being away from my family for a good while. So myself and two of my buddies started basic training together, we stuck together as soon as we got to 30th AG. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into I have never seen so many different people in one area. I have never experienced being away on my own for the first time, I had no clue what was going on. I wanted to give up and quit, but I told myself no! I cannot go back home as a quitter, ever since then, my motivation that kept me going was my family and friends, I wanted them to be proud of who I’ve become. I graduated basic training February 2005 with Fort Campbell

Our three day journey began in the state of Virginia. We drove through West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and it came to well anticipated ending in Colorado. That is where my father's new military base was stationed and that is why we had to move, I think. To me, a fourth grader at the time, the reason being did not matter. The only thing that mattered was the fact that we had moved for the second time in my nine years of life. The only thing I focused on was the rear door of our 1997 Ford explorer being lifted into the air. See the rest of my family had decided with there being no seats lefts at the front of the truck, my tiny stature would fit perfectly in the back, along with the luggage. So for three days straight the six of us had been stuffed into that truck like a can of tuna. This was not the first time we had moved and it was certainly not the last.

My dad, Warren “Smitty” Smith was entered to the United States Army straight after high school. Upon entry, my dad attended Big Ben community college in Fort Polk, Louisiana. He left college for his military obligation.