I got told a little story from one of my JROTC instructors today. Apperently I am not in the US Army. Lets see, it says US Army on my uniform, Army on my ID card, I have a US Army motor vehicle operator card, I just recieved another US Army good conduct medal last August and I have abide by US Army regulations.
The conversation started because a Active Army recruiter was going to bring a rock wall to a school event, and since he didn't have anyone to help him ( really, they just aren't supporting him) I offered myself and my aid to help him out, since it was going to benefit the studnets we support. He was told that was a no go and that we could not operate their vehicles. So my JROTC instructor called the major and asked him to explain why USAREC (the recruiting command) could not support this event. After giving a alot of excuses, the instructor said that we could help out with transport etc. His response was something along the line of, "Well, they aren't Army" When the instructor assured him we were, he said something along the line of " Well, you know, the real Army".
WTF!!!
I dare him to go overseas and tell that to one of the thousands of Guard troops who are out there fighting and dying in Iraq that they are not the real Army. Anyone who wears ACU's are in the Army. Yes, I am active Guard, but I am a US Army Soldier who is proud to serve.
God forbid I ever meet this Major, I might have to give him a copy of the Army values: Loyalty, Duty, RESPECT ( hmm he missed that one) selfless service, honesty, integrity and personal courage (he might need that last one, hehe).
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Proud Moment as a recruiter
Today was on of those proud days I have as a recruiter. My prime high school had its Spring awards today and I was asked to recognize those that joined that Guard and are off to college. The principal wanted me showcase the college money during the presentation. He is a big supporter of myself and what the Guard has to offer. Anyways, one by one I called down my seven Seniors who are Guard soldiers, talked about their job, their money for college ( GI bills and tuition assistance), and bonuses. The least college money was $57,000 and the most was $70,000. The student body cheered them like they were superstars on the sports teams.
It made me proud that these students joined our team and are all bound for college. In 5 years a few will be Second Lieutenants and I will be saluting them. After the ceremony, many other students were coming up to them and myself asking how can they get the same thing. Hopefully that means I will be busy this summer enlisting more soldiers. God knows I need the help, I rolled my first donut in along time last month, but already rolled 2 this month, so I need two more still. I will be on leave for 10 days this month (going to Alaska) so that decreases my operating days. But I will prevail, I usually do as long as I retain a positive attitude.
It made me proud that these students joined our team and are all bound for college. In 5 years a few will be Second Lieutenants and I will be saluting them. After the ceremony, many other students were coming up to them and myself asking how can they get the same thing. Hopefully that means I will be busy this summer enlisting more soldiers. God knows I need the help, I rolled my first donut in along time last month, but already rolled 2 this month, so I need two more still. I will be on leave for 10 days this month (going to Alaska) so that decreases my operating days. But I will prevail, I usually do as long as I retain a positive attitude.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Boy, I can be such an ass.
I bet you don't hear that from too many senior NCO's, but I am here to tell you, I can and lately have been one. While I may often see this a little, it takes a real friend to point it out to you.
My problem is, I call it like I see it in nmy office. While I am not the supervisor, I am senior to most in there and the other E-7 doesn't exactly ooze leadership. He's a great guy and I love him like a brother, but like I said I call it like it is. I put my nose where I shouldn't. Most of the time, my concern is legit, but I need to let my office mates do their own thing and if they struggle, they canhandle it.
I hate time wasters at work, and ineffeciency, which are main reasons why I get on the other NCO's in my office, but it is not my place to correct them with the exception that I am a senior NCO, a leader in the office, and I just have certain expectations. the problem is, in the National Guard recruiting, we are too lax, and get away with too much. However, we also out recruit the US Army and our state leads the nation. However, I know my office can do better than we do.
It is a delema on my part. I want to help, but will no longer unless I am asked. Even then, I will probably send them to the other E7 for assistance, let him lead for a bit. There is alot more to this story, but I don't want to bore you.
Point is, even though one is technically profeciant, and is often the problem solver, don't offer to solve issues unless directly asked or it is directly your responsibility. God I miss leading and taking care of soldiers, maybe thats my issue.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I need to get back into it. It will help me thru my days. Recruiting overall is going well, and I have stories to share, so I shall start sharing them.
Thanks for reading, expect more often.
My problem is, I call it like I see it in nmy office. While I am not the supervisor, I am senior to most in there and the other E-7 doesn't exactly ooze leadership. He's a great guy and I love him like a brother, but like I said I call it like it is. I put my nose where I shouldn't. Most of the time, my concern is legit, but I need to let my office mates do their own thing and if they struggle, they canhandle it.
I hate time wasters at work, and ineffeciency, which are main reasons why I get on the other NCO's in my office, but it is not my place to correct them with the exception that I am a senior NCO, a leader in the office, and I just have certain expectations. the problem is, in the National Guard recruiting, we are too lax, and get away with too much. However, we also out recruit the US Army and our state leads the nation. However, I know my office can do better than we do.
It is a delema on my part. I want to help, but will no longer unless I am asked. Even then, I will probably send them to the other E7 for assistance, let him lead for a bit. There is alot more to this story, but I don't want to bore you.
Point is, even though one is technically profeciant, and is often the problem solver, don't offer to solve issues unless directly asked or it is directly your responsibility. God I miss leading and taking care of soldiers, maybe thats my issue.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I need to get back into it. It will help me thru my days. Recruiting overall is going well, and I have stories to share, so I shall start sharing them.
Thanks for reading, expect more often.
Monday, March 10, 2008
RIP Ruth, You'll be missed
I am writing about Ruth. Ruth was a member of my American Legion Post. She was wheelchair bound and she was a hero to many. She was an Army Nurse during WW2. here is her story.
Ruth Motter Puryear volunteered for military service in 1943.
Three days into the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, Army Lt. Ruth Motter Puryear went running down the ramp of a transport pointed at Omaha Beach and sank into water over her head.
Two soldiers came to the aid of the petite Army nurse. With one on either side holding her out of the water, she made it safely to shore, where she scooped up a handful of sand that became a cherished memento, said her daughter, Robin G. Puryear of Atlanta.
Mrs. Puryear, who also would serve in the Battle of the Bulge and be among the first Army nurses to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, died Friday in a veterans hospice facility.
She will be honored Sunday at a funeral at 2 p.m. at the Huguenot Chapel of Woody Funeral Homes, 1020 Huguenot Road. Burial will be at Dale Memorial Park.
The 96-year-old native of Hanover, Pa., graduated from the Garfield Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Washington after an aunt advised her to learn to do something in which she could take care of herself.
On the return leg of a cross-country trip, she saw Robert Mason Puryear plowing behind a mule near his Boydton home. They married in 1937 and moved to Richmond.
They volunteered on the same day for military service in 1943. He left for the Pacific with the Navy. She sailed for England with the Army Nurse Corps.
After coming ashore in France on June 9, 1944, Mrs. Puryear served with the 107th Evacuation Hospital, which followed the Allied advance toward Germany.
By Dec. 10, her unit had set up their tents at Clervaux, Belgium. On the night of Dec. 16, she and a tentmate were readying themselves for the camp's holiday party. As they chatted across the blanket-walls dividing the unit's toilet facilities on the edge of the camp, Mrs. Puryear suddenly shushed her companion. She could hear voices -- voices speaking in German, her daughter said.
"We've got to get out of here!" she told her tentmate. They ran back into camp to find that the party had evolved into an emergency evacuation. The Battle of the Bulge had begun.
"We left everything," Mrs. Puryear recalled in a 1994 Richmond Times-Dispatch interview. "All our clothes, our supplies. We just had on what we had on and left. We left everything except our patients."
In subzero weather, they loaded 400 wounded onto trucks -- 12 to 14 to a truck -- and to the tops of Jeeps, her daughter said.
At one point, they set up their hospital in a French ch?teau.
"They set up the morgue on the lawn. They put planks on the steps and drove their Jeeps into the grand hall. The ballroom was the operating room," her daughter said. "My mother said she was hanging IVs and plasma bottles on the horns of the animal heads mounted on the wall."
During another stop, a 7-year-old boy wounded by shrapnel in his shoulder was brought to their unit. The surgeon said they'd have to amputate his arm, "but my mother got in the surgeon's face with her bandage scissors and said, 'Don't you dare cut off his arm. He'll need it to rebuild his country,'" her daughter said. The grown-up boy and Mrs. Puryear had a joyful reunion in 1986.
Horror was in store on April 22, 1945, as she was among the first Army nurses to enter Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
"I shall always remember the heaps of dead bodies lying near the crematorium, the bodies were skin and bones, many had black and blue marks and broken bones where they had been beaten," she wrote in a unit history. She was mortified to see children's bodies stacked like firewood, her daughter said.
"Even more horrible . . . was the sight of the 'living skeletons' that we saw in rat-infested buildings. They [the prisoners] were all too weak to walk . . . some were children 5 to 15 years old," she wrote.
After the war, she worked as a civilian nurse until she retired in 1973. Spurred by the memory of unwanted children stacked high at Buchenwald, she and her husband decided to adopt "a child that nobody wanted" -- her daughter, Robin.
Her husband died in 1967.
For about 10 years, beginning in the 1980s, Mrs. Puryear accepted invitations to speak about her experiences. As time went on, her focus shifted from talks about life as a World War II nurse to bearing testimony to the reality of the Holocaust.
I didn't realize how much of a hero she was until about a year ago. I knew she was an Army Nurse but never knew of her exploits until she told me to sit and she told me about the concentration camp.
Ruthie.... you will be missed. I am sorry I missed your funeral.
Ruth Motter Puryear volunteered for military service in 1943.
Three days into the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, Army Lt. Ruth Motter Puryear went running down the ramp of a transport pointed at Omaha Beach and sank into water over her head.
Two soldiers came to the aid of the petite Army nurse. With one on either side holding her out of the water, she made it safely to shore, where she scooped up a handful of sand that became a cherished memento, said her daughter, Robin G. Puryear of Atlanta.
Mrs. Puryear, who also would serve in the Battle of the Bulge and be among the first Army nurses to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, died Friday in a veterans hospice facility.
She will be honored Sunday at a funeral at 2 p.m. at the Huguenot Chapel of Woody Funeral Homes, 1020 Huguenot Road. Burial will be at Dale Memorial Park.
The 96-year-old native of Hanover, Pa., graduated from the Garfield Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Washington after an aunt advised her to learn to do something in which she could take care of herself.
On the return leg of a cross-country trip, she saw Robert Mason Puryear plowing behind a mule near his Boydton home. They married in 1937 and moved to Richmond.
They volunteered on the same day for military service in 1943. He left for the Pacific with the Navy. She sailed for England with the Army Nurse Corps.
After coming ashore in France on June 9, 1944, Mrs. Puryear served with the 107th Evacuation Hospital, which followed the Allied advance toward Germany.
By Dec. 10, her unit had set up their tents at Clervaux, Belgium. On the night of Dec. 16, she and a tentmate were readying themselves for the camp's holiday party. As they chatted across the blanket-walls dividing the unit's toilet facilities on the edge of the camp, Mrs. Puryear suddenly shushed her companion. She could hear voices -- voices speaking in German, her daughter said.
"We've got to get out of here!" she told her tentmate. They ran back into camp to find that the party had evolved into an emergency evacuation. The Battle of the Bulge had begun.
"We left everything," Mrs. Puryear recalled in a 1994 Richmond Times-Dispatch interview. "All our clothes, our supplies. We just had on what we had on and left. We left everything except our patients."
In subzero weather, they loaded 400 wounded onto trucks -- 12 to 14 to a truck -- and to the tops of Jeeps, her daughter said.
At one point, they set up their hospital in a French ch?teau.
"They set up the morgue on the lawn. They put planks on the steps and drove their Jeeps into the grand hall. The ballroom was the operating room," her daughter said. "My mother said she was hanging IVs and plasma bottles on the horns of the animal heads mounted on the wall."
During another stop, a 7-year-old boy wounded by shrapnel in his shoulder was brought to their unit. The surgeon said they'd have to amputate his arm, "but my mother got in the surgeon's face with her bandage scissors and said, 'Don't you dare cut off his arm. He'll need it to rebuild his country,'" her daughter said. The grown-up boy and Mrs. Puryear had a joyful reunion in 1986.
Horror was in store on April 22, 1945, as she was among the first Army nurses to enter Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
"I shall always remember the heaps of dead bodies lying near the crematorium, the bodies were skin and bones, many had black and blue marks and broken bones where they had been beaten," she wrote in a unit history. She was mortified to see children's bodies stacked like firewood, her daughter said.
"Even more horrible . . . was the sight of the 'living skeletons' that we saw in rat-infested buildings. They [the prisoners] were all too weak to walk . . . some were children 5 to 15 years old," she wrote.
After the war, she worked as a civilian nurse until she retired in 1973. Spurred by the memory of unwanted children stacked high at Buchenwald, she and her husband decided to adopt "a child that nobody wanted" -- her daughter, Robin.
Her husband died in 1967.
For about 10 years, beginning in the 1980s, Mrs. Puryear accepted invitations to speak about her experiences. As time went on, her focus shifted from talks about life as a World War II nurse to bearing testimony to the reality of the Holocaust.
I didn't realize how much of a hero she was until about a year ago. I knew she was an Army Nurse but never knew of her exploits until she told me to sit and she told me about the concentration camp.
Ruthie.... you will be missed. I am sorry I missed your funeral.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Family Treasure
I recently got handed down to me various family artifacts. Among them was my great grandfather's Great War stuff. He enlisted with the 38th INF Div in Indiana in December 1916. He was a medic and arrived in France one week before the war ended. So while he saw no action, he did endure struggles of the times and the occupation after. I know as soldier how we complain while traveling during a deployment, but back then, they would go 2-3 days without food rations. They would live off what they carried which was often not much. My great grandfather Vance, kept a diary during his time. I also got all the letters and postcards he traded with his fiance/wife. They married while he was training at Camp Shelby, Miss during a time she visited. The letters were never hot and steamy, they were very formal and talked about everyday stuff. They wrote at least three times a week.
The documents of Vance's I got were awesome. It included a letter from Gen Pershing, who was Commander of the American forces, a letter from King George, and original morning reports. The letters were copies of the day, but are still awesome, as I have never seen them before. I also got his complete uniform except for the "drill sgt" style hat they wore of the day. I did get his helmet, jacket , real leather leggings, and his dog tags. I put alot of the stuff in a shadow box for display in my home. I have a military wall of all in my family who has served in the military of past. I am the only one of my generation of family (both sides) in the military. How sad is that?
Anyways, here is a linktr>
SGT Vance Lewis WW1
The documents of Vance's I got were awesome. It included a letter from Gen Pershing, who was Commander of the American forces, a letter from King George, and original morning reports. The letters were copies of the day, but are still awesome, as I have never seen them before. I also got his complete uniform except for the "drill sgt" style hat they wore of the day. I did get his helmet, jacket , real leather leggings, and his dog tags. I put alot of the stuff in a shadow box for display in my home. I have a military wall of all in my family who has served in the military of past. I am the only one of my generation of family (both sides) in the military. How sad is that?
Anyways, here is a linktr>
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Green card Soldiers
Couple of nice tidbits I realized recently. I interviewed a gentleman a couple years ago who immigrated here to the US when he was 11 yrs old. I did not understand his status because he was working but did not have a green card as of yet. He was 31 and wanted to serve in the military since he had been here for 20 years and wanted to "give something back". I was not able to work with him because he lacked a green card, plus I was also thinking he thought he could get his green card if he joined. He was working legally due to his status somehow, I don't understand all the alien statuses, maybe I should work on that.
Anyways, two years had passed since I met with him and I get a phone call from him. He told me that he now has his green card and he would now like to join. Awesome! So I started processing him to be a mechanic. H e has had a medical stopper that needs to be cleared, but soon he will be a soldier.
What I learned from this is never assume some one's motivations. While I am a staunch supporter of immigration reform to include securing our borders, there are many people that come here in some sort of legal status and most will contribute positively to our society.
Which brings me to my next recruit, Charles. Charles immigrated legally to the US 5 yrs ago from Kenya. he learned English there and graduated high school there. He went through a 5 year process to immigrate here legally with his wife. When he got here he got a GED so he was able to show employers his understanding of the English language. He is 40 yrs old, has 2 young children and now wants to join the military. When I met with him, he said he came across our web site from a search engine as he was researching military information, he did not know the difference between Guard and active, so I told him about both. He has always had an interest in the military and his wife supports him fully. One thing he told me was the isolation he and his African friends felt. They feel they don't get the same information, but granted, its out there, you just need to know how to look. So, like any good recruiter, I asked him if any of his friends would like to look into this, he said off hand he knew of four to five that would probably like this. Immigrant communities are tight knit and usually do not let outsiders in to their peer group, but once you get in and gain their trust, you can reap the benefits (marketing 101) So Charles is testing today and if all goes well, he will be in boots by end of the month, being 40 yrs old, he has extra medical stuff to go through, so it will not be a quick one. MEPS is really slow in that area.
So remember, we do have a number of green card holders in the military that serve honorably to protect our freedoms we are spoiled on and protect their new found freedoms, even though by joining the military, you give up alot of freedoms sort to speak. I even knew a Iranian who actually served in the Iranian military before immigrating to the US legally, I served with him on a mission for a year. Great guy.
So, whenever one deals with an immigrant alien, I stress look past stereotypes and put them in boots. If you them right, they may help you make mission the next couple months without working hard to find them.
Please share any thoughts!!
Anyways, two years had passed since I met with him and I get a phone call from him. He told me that he now has his green card and he would now like to join. Awesome! So I started processing him to be a mechanic. H e has had a medical stopper that needs to be cleared, but soon he will be a soldier.
What I learned from this is never assume some one's motivations. While I am a staunch supporter of immigration reform to include securing our borders, there are many people that come here in some sort of legal status and most will contribute positively to our society.
Which brings me to my next recruit, Charles. Charles immigrated legally to the US 5 yrs ago from Kenya. he learned English there and graduated high school there. He went through a 5 year process to immigrate here legally with his wife. When he got here he got a GED so he was able to show employers his understanding of the English language. He is 40 yrs old, has 2 young children and now wants to join the military. When I met with him, he said he came across our web site from a search engine as he was researching military information, he did not know the difference between Guard and active, so I told him about both. He has always had an interest in the military and his wife supports him fully. One thing he told me was the isolation he and his African friends felt. They feel they don't get the same information, but granted, its out there, you just need to know how to look. So, like any good recruiter, I asked him if any of his friends would like to look into this, he said off hand he knew of four to five that would probably like this. Immigrant communities are tight knit and usually do not let outsiders in to their peer group, but once you get in and gain their trust, you can reap the benefits (marketing 101) So Charles is testing today and if all goes well, he will be in boots by end of the month, being 40 yrs old, he has extra medical stuff to go through, so it will not be a quick one. MEPS is really slow in that area.
So remember, we do have a number of green card holders in the military that serve honorably to protect our freedoms we are spoiled on and protect their new found freedoms, even though by joining the military, you give up alot of freedoms sort to speak. I even knew a Iranian who actually served in the Iranian military before immigrating to the US legally, I served with him on a mission for a year. Great guy.
So, whenever one deals with an immigrant alien, I stress look past stereotypes and put them in boots. If you them right, they may help you make mission the next couple months without working hard to find them.
Please share any thoughts!!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Recruit the recruiter
That's exactly what I ended up doing. We had one of the recruiters in my office quit in October, yes you can do that in the Guard. Anyways, I met this teacher at one of my high schools who is a substitute for the JROTC. Nice guy, did 9 years in the Corps, is 40 and still in good shape. His senior instructor was joking one day while I was there that he should get a gig like mine. The comment was made that those opportunities do not arise often. Well, I stepped in, talked to him a bit, pulled his scores and he was qualified. So I made my move. Two weeks later, I had him his physical and enlisted. He starts tomorrow. He is so pumped that he is not waiting for his uniforms to come in, he came with me to the PX and spent $200 to get a complete set of ACU's. Motivation, I love it.
I look forward to working with him, his personality will blend in nicely with the four of us already here, he has no apparent baggage that will wear him down like the last guy who left. The last guy has marriage issues, ex wife, baby's momma he was still in love with etc etc.
This also brings to light a trend that I see in the recruiting world, at least in my world, "older" citizens, particularly men, want to serve. I get alot of prior service people as old as 50 want to serve again. Some of the older guys don't cut it medically, but our office has succeeded in putting a couple nearly 50 guys. Granted, they are not combat troops, but the desire to serve, even part time is there.
I am also speaking to alot more 30 somethings about military service. they call me and some end of joining. The oldest person I have enlisted who never served was 38 and went to be a medic. I am excited about this trend, I do tell them about having much younger guys as their NCO's and they are not phased. They come from all walks of life, family guys, single, divorced, laborers and professionals. Their reason for joining usually is service to country or they want a change of career field and look to the military for the training.
The area I see the most lacking is the 23-29 age frame. Most of these young men think they are above military service and I have met some pompous asses for sure. I do find good one in the mix though.
Be assured readers, that as long as I am recruiting, there will be qualified good people who will enlist to protect our freedoms for years to come. They know what they are getting into and no one has ever accused me of lying or hiding something from them.
Till I blog again( I promise it wont be so long)
I look forward to working with him, his personality will blend in nicely with the four of us already here, he has no apparent baggage that will wear him down like the last guy who left. The last guy has marriage issues, ex wife, baby's momma he was still in love with etc etc.
This also brings to light a trend that I see in the recruiting world, at least in my world, "older" citizens, particularly men, want to serve. I get alot of prior service people as old as 50 want to serve again. Some of the older guys don't cut it medically, but our office has succeeded in putting a couple nearly 50 guys. Granted, they are not combat troops, but the desire to serve, even part time is there.
I am also speaking to alot more 30 somethings about military service. they call me and some end of joining. The oldest person I have enlisted who never served was 38 and went to be a medic. I am excited about this trend, I do tell them about having much younger guys as their NCO's and they are not phased. They come from all walks of life, family guys, single, divorced, laborers and professionals. Their reason for joining usually is service to country or they want a change of career field and look to the military for the training.
The area I see the most lacking is the 23-29 age frame. Most of these young men think they are above military service and I have met some pompous asses for sure. I do find good one in the mix though.
Be assured readers, that as long as I am recruiting, there will be qualified good people who will enlist to protect our freedoms for years to come. They know what they are getting into and no one has ever accused me of lying or hiding something from them.
Till I blog again( I promise it wont be so long)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
