Personal Narrative: My Prior Military Experiences

Everyone knows that a soldier is someone that has made the ultimate sacrifice. By that I mean someone that has gave up being with family and friends to go and help the world. However, being a civilian may be difficult at times, it does not even compare. The responsibilities of a solders can be challenging, rewarding and yet demanding. As a United States Soldier, fighting for our country, both home and abroad, we are considered as a band of brothers, well some may even call it a family whom incorporate the antic of military first, family second and accountability fits into the category as top priority. Within the United States, the importance of keeping our patrons safe and free of any potential threats that can be a risk to safety is also near

The most challenging aspect I have found about being a leader and Soldier in the Army is finding balance between Army life and life outside of my career. As a father and a husband, I have to consciously make time for the other factors in my life. Since I have spent an average of my adult life more at work than at home, whether deployed or in garrison, I have formed lasting bonds with peers, superiors and subordinates alike. It is a delicate balance to ensure that I am creating similar bonds with my 10 and 16 year old boys, who live with their mother, while continuously strengthening my bond with my wife. Although this balance remains a challenge, I have found that by anticipating various reactions to my words and actions that I am choosing to say what I actually mean. That simple process has positive impacts on my continuing effort to build resiliency. I also make it a point to “hunt the good stuff” and focus on the positive aspects of my life rather than the things that cause me to stress. I find that positive communication and exercise are also good releases for me and helps me to feel less overwhelmed.

I went pre-med before getting deployed and as an intern I've seen a lot of horrible things. But when it's your friend... Someone you serve with... It stays with you forever.

Growing up as a military child and living all over the world, I was afforded many

With no vision or plan to enter the civilian life and no idea what to do with my life, I still had severe scars of the year in Iraq. There wasn’t a priority or a drive, but however, I did have some responsibility I had a wife and three children. In a desperate move, I attempted to return to the State where I was born as I think about it this may have been some comfort zone. I would send my two new children back home to their state while I attempted to land a job. My first interview would be in Cincinnati as a Retail Manager in a large company. Confident that I had some stability, I couldn’t avoid the heavy drinking or my violent outbursts I would eventually succumb to leaving my wife and two children to find myself in this lost world, which later I regretted. My focus was to leave everything behind and start a new life this would

Welcome, in the following paragraphs the strengths, weaknesses, and available avenues of improvement for my first essay will be discussed. The rubric remained vague in the tone for this document so I chose to peruse a more personal approach. In the military after Action Reviews (AARs) are highly valued and carry the connotation of honest, and blunt, reflections of the affiliated action. My MLA formatting was weakest amidst strong overall writing capabilities.

The year was 2007 and my brother Eric had just returned home from deployment to Iraq and the mood was ecstatic around the house. My dad was welling up with tears, finally being able to see his oldest child returning home from service. Mom was also very happy as well, repeatedly fondling over Eric as soon as he entered the house. Eric and I had always been close, even though there was a decent age gap between us of 15 years. We talked for hours about what his time was like in Iraq and in the military; he seemed open to talking about it even though he witnessed some fairly nightmarish experiences. Eventually I got the bright idea to challenge him to a wrestling match on the lawn even though he had 120 pounds on me. He tried to talk me out of

This was my first deployment to Iraq and second overall deployment with Bravo Company, 1-501 Parachute Infantry Regiment. I was only in one direct fire engagement during my first deployment. So when we were notified of your company being selected to change areas of operation to one of the hottest spots in all of Iraq I was not sure what to expect. I had only been a Squad Leader for 6 months and I was not exactly sure how my young squad would handle the realities of war. We were stationed in Alaska and the army chose us to attend a Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) rotation in Fort Polk, Louisiana that prepared us for the adverse conditions of Iraq. During JRTC we conducted multiple raids while being paired with a team from 20th Special

My first combat deployment was one that gave me a vast majority of experiences and shaped my mind and the decisions I would make as a Noncommissioned Officer. Along with my unit I deployed to Iraq for a year, conducted missions by helping the people of Iraq to establish a functioning government, and uproot insurgents. My unit had trained just as hard as all other units in the U.S. Army and we relished the fact that we would have the opportunity to deploy. For the better part this deployment did have its high points as well as indubitable low points that we wished would have never happened.

I wasn’t a healthy child. Some of my earliest memories are of my frequent visits to the doctor for a plethora of reasons, from ear infections to asthma to chickenpox, it seems like I dealt with it all as a little boy. I remember some of my early health problems vividly, but I also remember connecting the doctor with feeling better. At this young age I was also confronted with the threat of the death of my father. Mom picked us up early from school one day, and I could see a look of fear on her face as she sped uncharacteristically fast away. “Mom, where are we going?”, I asked. “Your dad is in the hospital, he’s very sick. We are going to see him.”, she replied, choking on her words speaking to her two young children. “WHAT’S WRONG!?”, my

1. My experiences in combat and in garrison has provided me with an insightful perspective on our nation’s most precious resource, the United State Army Soldier. We are obligated to tell these Soldiers’ stories along with the respective commands they serve in with our local partner communities and national public. I see the VTIP as an excellent opportunity to continue serving the United States Army in a different capacity.

My military service reshaped who I am. My training stripped away any sense of entitlement and I learned more about myself in four months than I’d ever known before. It not only gave me discipline and taught me to perform under pressure, but everything I did wasn’t just for me anymore. I was working hard for the marines next to me in my platoon. The time came when each of us hit a breaking point physically or mentally.

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.

When I joined the Army, I never imagined it would be like this. We’re Americans. We are supposed to be invincible. On December 31st, 1941 we got to the peninsula and a few days later the battle began. We defeated the first wave of Japs after a couple of months and things got quiet for a while. Food supplies began to dwindle. Soon after we arrived, our rations were halved. A month later, they were halved again. We were near starving to death on miniscule amounts of fish and rice. We ran out of medication and soldiers contracted malaria and started dying. Before we knew it, the Japanese were back. We held them, but our line was never solid. A month later, the Japanese made it through our lines. We tried to run from them, but there

It was one calm Sunday morning December 7, 1941, the widows were open and could hear the sound of cars driving past in the distance. I sat alone in the bunker dining hall waiting for my call to go on duty. Being up early it would be a while before anyone else was up and ready to go over briefing so I decided to go for a little walk outside. The fresh-air woke me up a tad as I paced up and down the grass across the road from the dining-hall. The clouds over Oahu started to clear up and the sun started to shine bright. I looked over my left shoulder as I saw a tall figure walking towards me. As the figure came closer, I realized who he was, lieutenant Bruce Cameron. "General Myers" He gave me a salute as he stopped by my side in his dark