My father was a career soldier, enlisting as an Infantry Private in 1937 and retiring as a LtCol in 1963.
As an Army Brat and as far back as I can remember, joining the military was always something I had in my mind to do.
For a while, I thought that goal was out of reach since I married and had a child and was not eligible under the enlistment criteria in place at the time. With the helpful advice of an Army Recruiter in Tacoma, Washington, I found two ways to enlist. The first was to join the National Guard and, while in Basic Training, I could transfer to the Regular Army. The only other alternative was to volunteer for the draft and reclassification to 1A. Upon reclassification to 1A, I would be allowed to enlist. I visited the National Guard Armory in downtown Tacoma, Washington, and spoke with a CWO and told him what I was trying to do. He showed me his status board and advised that there was a six-month waiting list to enlist in the Guard. I opted for the Draft reclassification and wound up in Basic Combat Training about two weeks later. During my second or third week of Basic, I received a draft notice and a letter of acceptance from the CWO for enlistment in the National Guard. From the recruiter and the CWO, I learned that there is always a way to make things happen.
The Christy Collection
Military Stories and Articles
The First Battle of Fallujah
In the earliest years of the Iraq War, the city of Fallujah was one of the most contested cities in the country, but it didn't start out that way. Local citizens had taken control of maintaining order in the city, but a series of misunderstandings between Coalition forces and local leaders soon led to violence and outrage. At the end of March 2004, four private military contractors were massacred and mutilated by insurgents there. The same day, five American soldiers were killed by a massive...
CMSgt Jerry Shelton, Jr., U.S. Air Force (1983-2013)
What personal and professional achievements from your Military service are you most proud of and why?:
Boots on the Ground. Promotion to the Air Force’s highest enlisted rank, Chief Master Sergeant (one percent of the Air Force enlisted structure), certainly tops my list of professional achievements. But it was not the promotion itself that stands out as my most memorable military moment…well, not exactly. Let me explain. In May 2009, my Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) flight and I reported for duty at Combined Joint Task Force Paladin, headquartered at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, where our EOD flight was under operational control. Supporting the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division throughout Wardak and Logar Province, our 16 EOD teams resolved 476 improvised explosive device incidents and 103 weapons cache operations, effectively removing over 21,280 pounds of explosives from the battlefield.