March 9th, 1985 at the Urbana, Illinois National Guard Armory, I signed on the line. My enlistment contract in the Illinois Army National Guard. 11B10 - Infantryman, assigned as a Scout Observer to the Combat Support Company, 2/130th Infantry. When I called home and told my parents, they were rather startled.
To tell the truth, when I got to Fort Benning, GA for Basic Training, I was too. See for yourself...
A couple of years slowly getting my bearings and an officer's commission, I figured it out.
Learn from NCOs.Some schoolhouse training helped too...Good thing I had learned a little by 1993. I was called up for the Mississippi Floods that summer - and had to take acting command of a Company.
The rest of the 1990s went along merrily enough - oh, until all that Bosnia stuff got going. I had moved to the Army Reserves by then, and ended up leaping at the chance to help. I thought this would be my one adventure (since I had missed the Gulf War) before settling down for good...
Of course, it wasn't all fun and games
there...
Back home and wait for 20 years and out, mmmm? Well, maybe a little bit of interesting work like helping train foreign militaries at multinational exercises in
Ukraine...
But nothing much of note after that, right?
Wrong.
I got to go to Afghanistan and lend a hand. Made some new life long friendships, cemented others. Got to get out and
soldier.
And then I got to come
Home...
And then I was done...finally home from war, and at 20 years service. Time to hang it up and call it a career? Nope. Had a little hurricane, name of Katrina, get in the way.