08/16/05

Welcome to my Web site! I joined the National Guard in June of 1985. I worked full time at Camp Gruber on projects for many years before I was deployed in the first gulf war to Saudi Arabia in 1991. I was stationed in Khobar with the 445th provisional Military Police Company while I was Deployed. While I was there I worked as a mechanic, tool and parts attendant and a recovery specialist. After I was demobilized in 1992 I went back to my old company with the engineers and gained even more responsibilities since I had made my Sgt stripes in the gulf. I was now in charge of the contact team and the recovery team plus I had to work on the construction equipment cause we had no trained equipment mechanics. I also had to fill in as the tams clerk when we would loose the troops that were suppose to fill this position. I went back to the private sector for my employment and got the gob with the construction company that I was employed with till I was deployed this last time. My command structure has always been pretty week so I have had to do a lot of things on my own so I have learned how to do a lot of things that I would not have normally had to do. In 1993 I was transferred to another company in the battalion and was deployed to the second gulf war in Dec 1993. We mobilized out of Ft Sill and they were not set up to do this. I felt like I knew less when we were done training than when I started. We were station at FOB Taqaddum Iraq and inherited a rolling junk yard since we left our equipment at home and took over equipment  that was already in country. I was stationed here for 11 months until I was evaced and while I was there was subject to being mortered rocketed rpg'ed and shot at on a daily basis. We also had some really bad food. I would not have fed what we were eating to a dog that I was trying to kill. We had lost one of our tams clerks before we left and the other one shortly after we got there so I ended up stepping up to fill the position. We lost our commo tech to a task force so again I stepped up. We also had a supply sgt who had never done this type of job before so I had to tutor him on the use of his supply program. I also done convoys  and was the recovery tech and helped out with the repair of the construction equipment . I believe that I went above and beyond the call of duty but nobody seems to care. I am of no use to anyone now so I have been thrown away like a common piece of trash. I you want my opinion I would tell the young people that are thinking of joining the military not to join. If you must though I would suggest the coast guard. The army is not the same as it once was and is now a proven fact that they do not take care of their own any more.