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VA Military Memories Competition

SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)

SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)

Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:

Military training does not end with basic or AIT (advanced individual training). It is an ongoing, continuous journey which imparts many valuable and often life-long lessons. One of the most valuable and enduring lessons I repeatedly received during my many years of Army service was that there is a chain of command and it is there for a reason. Nothing is written in stone, situations can be fluid, and utilizing a chain of command can be instrumental in accomplishing or changing a situation.

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SSG James R. Laudermilk, U.S. Army (2004-2015)

SSG James R. Laudermilk, U.S. Army (2004-2015)

Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:

Yes, there was a time in my civilian life when my military training was absolutely vital not in the field, but in a fight for my life. After 19 years in the U.S. Army, including combat deployments to Iraq and roles as an IT instructor and leader I retired with 100% disability due to exposure to burn pits. I have led soldiers through missions, trained others in high-pressure-tech environments, and understood the value of discipline, resilience, and readiness. But nothing fully prepared me for what came next: a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the neck, followed by leukemia.

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SSgt Tyler Armstrong, U.S. Air Force (2009-2015)

SSgt Tyler Armstrong, U.S. Air Force (2009-2015)

Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:

Yes, there was a defining moment during my civilian life when my military training became not just useful, but lifesaving. After separating from the military, I was driving on a remote highway late at night when I came upon a multi-car accident. Several people were injured, and it was clear that emergency services hadn’t yet arrived. The scene was chaotic, vehicles were smoking, people were in shock, and one car had flipped over with a driver trapped inside.

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CW2 Donnell Medley, U.S. Army (1964-1968)

CW2 Donnell Medley, U.S. Army (1964-1968)

Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:

On June 13, 1966, while flying an Army Birddog out of Marble Mountain airfield, I was shot down supporting a Marine company that was pinned down by a Viet Cong force. My Marine observer and I had just taken off and were en route to Marine artillery base Hill 55 when there was a call on the radio, “Any Catkiller, any Catkiller near Hoi An?”. We were very near the area, so I answered with our location. The radio operator stated that they were pinned down by an enemy force and requested assistance. We obtained the coordinates and said that we were on our way. Arriving on the scene, we saw that the Marine force was on a narrow road and receiving fire from a trench line approximately 100 yards to their front. There were 12 to 15 VCs in the trench. Assessing the situation, I had the Marines set up their 60 mm mortar. The mortars weren’t coming close after several adjustments were made. I didn’t feel comfortable calling artillery as the Marines were too close. I then told the Marine observer to take my M16, and we would make some strafing runs.

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SPC Robert E. Hendrickson, U.S. Army (1976-1992)

SPC Robert E. Hendrickson, U.S. Army (1976-1992)

Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:

Yes, 3xs, … in my boot camp training .. I was taught basic 1st aid in 1976 … and later on in my life, I unchoked my foster dad from choking on a piece of steak two different times … I did the Heimlich maneuver on him … once I got in the right place and in position, I performed h. m. and he expelled the steak piece … God rest his soul now … that was in 1986 and 1987 respectively …

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SPC Gregory Tallant, U.S. Army (1992-1995)

SPC Gregory Tallant, U.S. Army (1992-1995)

Was There An Occasion, During Your Military Or Civilian Life, When Your Military Training Proved Invaluable In Overcoming A Difficult Situation?:

In August 1992, my basic training class, which was part of an OSUT unit, was sent to Fort Polk, LA. We were stationed in the old World War II barracks while waiting for our unit to return from Germany after the Gulf War. We were assigned to every type of work detail possible, from trash removal and building painting and repair to dishwashing and lawn care, every day, for several months. The first soldier who arrived at Fort Polk from our returning unit was Specialist Enke. He was one of the funniest and laziest soldiers I worked with. One day, an NCO asked for volunteers for NTC, and Specialist Enke raised his hand. I thought it was an easy detail job, so I raised my hand as well. After everyone who raised their hand was selected. Specialist Enke asked me why I volunteered for Desert Training. I said I didn’t. I volunteered for NTC. He said NTC is the National Training Center at Ft Irwin, California, which is in the Mojave Desert. My first thought was that it sounded better than all of the crap details I had been doing for several months. When we arrived at Fort Irwin, we were attached to an M109 self-propelled artillery unit, which was very beneficial for me, as in basic training, we were trained on the towed howitzers M102, M119, & M198 as we were supposed to go to the 10th Mountain Division at Ft Drum, NY, but at graduation we were advised that the 10th Mountain Division was full, so they offered us Fort Polk, LA. Our unit, which had just returned from Germany, also used the M109 howitzers, so I was excited about the opportunity to work with the M109. The E6 crew chief who selected me for his crew told me that since I was only an E2, he was going to put me on every crap detail. I told him that I would gladly work the crap details, and when I explained that while the unit I was attached to at Fort Polk was also an M109 battallion, I had only been trained on towed howitzers, and I asked if he would please teach me about the M109, when it wouldn’t interfere with his crew’s training. He was an E6 crew chief. To my amazement, he put me on every crap detail.

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TSgt Daniel L. Daugherty, U.S. Air Force (1978-2006)

TSgt Daniel L. Daugherty, U.S. Air Force (1978-2006)

What Advice Would You Give A New Recruit Just Starting Out Their Military Career?:

When I first joined, I thought it was all about surviving boot camp and doing what I was told. But I quickly learned that military service isn t about getting through it it s about becoming someone because of it. I was a young Airman at the time, fresh out of tech school and proud of my new badge as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller. I had trained hard, passed selection, and thought I had something to prove.

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SPC Leslie Wuest, U.S. Army (1986-1988)

SPC Leslie Wuest, U.S. Army (1986-1988)

What Advice Would You Give A New Recruit Just Starting Out Their Military Career?:

Starting a military career is one of the most rewarding and challenging journeys you’ll ever take. It’s a life of discipline, duty, and dedication, but it’s also about making sure your hard work is seen and recognized. As SPC4 in the Army that worked in personnel and on the Road as an MP, I saw all too often people who were excellent soldiers just had nothing in their file and were often overlooked. Promotions don’t just happen; they’re earned, often by people who may never meet you in person. They’ll only see a snapshot of your efforts through your file. That file tells your story, so make it an unforgettable one.

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MAJ Scott Meehan, U.S. Army (1980-2005)

MAJ Scott Meehan, U.S. Army (1980-2005)

What Advice Would You Give A New Recruit Just Starting Out Their Military Career?:

When I first signed on the dotted line to join the Army, my plan was simple: serve three years and get out. That changed quickly. Just over a year into my enlistment, I got married and soon had a child with another on the way. Life had shifted, and so had my path. I re-enlisted for an additional four years after receiving orders for an overseas assignment in Berlin.

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SGT Robert D. Pryor, U.S. Army (1967-1969)

SGT Robert D. Pryor, U.S. Army (1967-1969)

What Advice Would You Give A New Recruit Just Starting Out Their Military Career?:

Those entering the military should pay attention to every word in training. Learn from those with superior training, experience, and higher ranks. If stationed abroad, learn the language and customs. You never know what seemingly trivial lesson may be the one that saves your life or that of a buddy. Learn to be the “gray man.” I learned that lesson the hard way when I couldn’t stay in step in Basic Training. Consequently, I spent a lot of time with grease traps. While cleaning one, someone entered the Mess Hall, asking who signed up to be a paratrooper. That wasn’t me. I was a wimp and the last one chosen when picking teams as a kid. They added that everyone going Airborne needed to take the Airborne Physical Training test. I took that test to get out of the grease trap and barely passed.

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SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)

SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)

What Advice Would You Give A New Recruit Just Starting Out Their Military Career?:

There Is A Right Way . . . There Is A Wrong Way . . . And There Is The Army Way! These were words spoken loudly and forcefully from the time I, as a recruit, exited the bus at Fort McClellan, Alabama, my basic training station, on numerous occasions until my graduation to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) several months later. Other applicable words included This Is Not The Army . . . This is Basic Training. And, all I could think was, “thank goodness.”

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SK2 Carolyn Pivarnik, U.S. Navy (2000-2005)

SK2 Carolyn Pivarnik, U.S. Navy (2000-2005)

What Advice Would You Give A New Recruit Just Starting Out Their Military Career?:

Two pieces of advice: 1) Keep all your request chits, and 2) Explore! For the first, I was able to renegotiate an evaluation because of this. I was marked down for not trying to pursue higher education, even though I had repeatedly sent chits up the chain of command to do so. They would either be denied or my work schedule would be changed, making it impossible for me to follow through with classes. When my evaluation came back to me to sign, I refused to until they changed that category to a better score, and I was able to prove my case because I had heeded the early advice given to me and saved all my request chits. When my chiefs saw their own signatures, they changed the score to a Promote.

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