{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/mk6542m70g/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Brandon Moore Interviewed by Conor Fleming"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/038/original/university-libraries-logo-2x.png?1711560609","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Arizona Veterans Project, MS 835"]}},{"label":{"en":["Relation"]},"value":{"en":["Arizona Veterans Project (is part of)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Moore, Brandon (Interviewee)","Fleming, Conor (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2025-04-18 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["Arizona--Tucson (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMr. Moore and his experince as an enlisted soldier during GWOT.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":[".MOV"]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["University of Arizona Libraries"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["MS835.051 (uid)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["Branch of Service - Army","Highest Rank - 1SG","Period of Service - GWOT","Battalion - 4-306th BEB"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Oral Histories"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMr. Moore and his experince as an enlisted soldier during GWOT.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"provider":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["University of Arizona Libraries"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["University of Arizona Libraries"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/038/original/university-libraries-logo-2x.png?1711560609","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/282/732/small/azu_ms835-051_a.mov_1752514811.jpg?1752514812","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - azu_ms835-051_a.mov"]},"duration":4889.42911,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/282/732/small/azu_ms835-051_a.mov_1752514811.jpg?1752514812","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-arizona.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/282/732/original/azu_ms835-051_a.mov?1752514802","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":4889.42911,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: Good morning, sir. My name is Gav Fleming. I'm from the University of Arizona, and this interview is for the giving back to Veterans Initiative, and let's get started. So if we could just start with your name branch of service and your highest rank achieved, please","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=0.0,15.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: Sure. I'm Brandon Moore. I was in Military Intelligence Corps. I did four years in Field Artillery my first four years in the Army, and then I retired as a First Sergeant.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=16.0,25.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: Awesome. So what made you want to enlist as someone who just got out of high school?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=26.0,33.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: Good question. I didn't want to go to college. I was I was done with school by the time I got to high school. I did. I did well in high school, like, I graduated, like a three, but I majored in, like, auto shop and PE you know, I just found, I found a way to get good grades by taking classes I actually liked. Yes, I wasn't very good at English and math and all that. And I just, I wanted to go to college, and I wanted to get a degree, but I just didn't want to do it out of high school. Oh, yeah. And so I was like, you know, the army. You know, I grew up in San Diego. It's a military town, so automatically, I didn't want to be in the Marines or the Navy, because I saw all my friends, dads were always gone all the time, and there was Army in the Air Force, and, well, the army had guaranteed contracts. And I was like, a guarantee, especially when it comes to your career in life. So it was fairly easy after that. And then I wanted a job to work with computers. Because, of course, in 1997 the internet had been out for a few years. I mean, it was still computers were new, so to the vast majority of people. So I wanted a job with computers, and the I did fire direction for multiple launch rocket systems, and that was merely data input. It wasn't much. It was the computers were not very powerful, but it was mere data input, because we were going to tell the MLRS launchers where, when and how much to shoot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=34.0,120.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: Yeah. No. So, yeah. So according your bio that I read, you enlisted as a 13 Papa. If case, anyone who sees this non military, what job is that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=121.0,131.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: It's MLRS, fire direction. So it's multiple launch, rocket system, Fire Direction specialist. So our job is on the battlefield when you have multiple launch rocket system, the MLRS launchers, you tell you get the target sent to you, because it's a counter battery fire. A lot of times. I'm sure it's changed in 30 years, but when I was there, it was counter battery fire. So if enemy shot at us with artillery. The radar would find it. The radar would tell us where it's coming from, and then we would shoot our launch. You know, the launchers would shoot the rockets back at the enemy that way. And so fire direction was coordination of multiple launchers on the battlefield to tell them basically where, when and how much to shoot. And then you keep track of rocket counts, and you got to keep track of the battlefield, you know, where you can shoot, where you can't shoot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=132.0,186.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that's a serious job. It was","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=187.0,191.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: one of the longer MLS schools at Fort Sill at the time. I don't think it was the longest, but it was tough because you, we had to learn how to talk on the radio, because that's a big part of the job. Learn how to read maps. That was probably one of the most important parts of the job, because you, you had to make sure you were reading grids correctly, so that, you know, because when we would get the grid, we would call it out one person's on the map, and they got to make sure that the grid is called correctly, because I got to make sure, is that a safe place to shoot, or is it an area we can't shoot? You know? So, and then the computer part was more just data input and making sure that we input our data card. So it wasn't like it was a powerful computer where it could do all it could do the triangulations calculations, but more the launchers did all of that. We just had to make sure we sent there we inputted the right information. No, AI back then, yeah, it was, it was a lot of, a lot of work, as we used to say, yeah, what,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=192.0,254.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: uh, what made you want to choose that job? I wanted to","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=255.0,259.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: join the army, originally to work on helicopter. Helicopters, because I was, like, working with my hands, yeah, and I'm partially color blind, so I had like, a 67 on my ASVAB. So I had pretty high ASVAB score. So I've seen other recruiters like, oh, yeah, you get a job. You want this any other? And I was all excited, because I'm, like, I wanted to work on helicopters, and, you know, and work on my hands. I always like flight. And you go down to neps and you do the medical portion, and then come find out a partially color blind, which I kind of knew before my life, because I always saw colors a little different, yeah, and so when they as person, I was still red green qualified, so I could tell the difference between red and green. Train and make sure of that. So like my list of jobs, like from this to this, and it was like truck driver, chaplains, Assistant, heavy equipment, crane operator. They had combat jobs like Bravo infantry. And it had 13 Bravo, which was canon crew member, 13 echo, or 13 echo. I think it's 13 echo. It was the cannon fire direction, and then 13 for paw, which was MLRS fire direction. And so since I was like, Well, if I can't get a mechanic job, maybe I should work with computers, because that's the future, so I was like, I'll take one in. So the recruiter at the at the MEPs, is like, Well, you got fire direction for cannons and fire direction for rockets, and the cannons is more done on paper and and they don't really use computers too much. I mean, obviously this is a big transition time for the army at that time, because they were getting into more technology. But he's like, MLRS, that's all electronic, and it's signed to me on computers. And I'm like, Oh, I'll take that one. And then I had $40,000 bonus for the Army college fund. So I'm like, perfect. I'll do my four years. It'll pay for my college. Because I knew I wanted to go to college, just didn't want to go then I wanted to take a break. So it was like, perfect. So that was why,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=260.0,377.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: yeah, I hear that. Remember what your basic training experience was like? Rough fun.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=378.0,386.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: Oh yeah, basic training was fun. You know, you get an impression of basic training from movies like full metal jacket or major pain, although that was, that was actually a JROTC movie. But, yeah, you get this or stripes, you know, the comedies, you get this idea. I mean, obviously the drill sergeants in charge. You just have to do what they say. I mean, I think Forrest Gump was the perfect. Forrest Gump said, What is your job? Sole purposes, Army, he's like to do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant. So I learned very quick at basic training, if you just do what you're told, it was easy for you, yeah, of course. You know, the first week or two, it's tough because you're homesick, you know, you're laying in the bunk, you know, at night, and you're missing home, but it wasn't but I knew this was a stepping stone, it was, and I knew that, you know, I wanted to be in the army, so I just embraced it. I mean, yeah, like, I wasn't big into foot marches, and I wasn't big into basically foot marching. I was like, this is a waste. We got vehicles to do this. Why don't we gotta walk with these heavy backpacks, you know? But no, I had a fun time. Of course. Great thing about basic is you meet people from all walks of life from everywhere in the United States and even parts of the world. So it was great just meeting different people and getting to know other people's lives. You know, like, we all come from different lives, but a lot of us are all the same, you know, absolutely so basic. Was fun. The other challenge was shooting, because they tell you, they teach you how to shoot, yeah? And I grew up learning how to shoot, but I learned shoot left handed, not knowing why was right eye dominant, yeah? So basic, you know, the drill sergeants check what you were dominant? Oh, they tell me, I'm right eye dominant, but I'm like, I'm left handed. And they're like, well, you're gonna learn shoot right handed. Private. I'm like, so that was a change, you know? But in all reality, that was the best change, because you need to have you guys shoot with your dominant eye, especially when we're shooting 300 300 meters. So yeah, and then going to Fort Sill, getting used to, of course, humidity, because San Diego has humidity, but nothing at all like Oklahoma or other parts of the south. So, yeah, basic to me, basic was a lot of fun. You know. Again, there was tough days, you know, days you get dogged out by drill sergeant. You know, I didn't like the gas chamber, yeah, I was those guys that would come out of there with all the stuff coming out of my nose, puking up. And I was that guy, not like some of my friends who came out like, I didn't even affect him. I'm like, Yeah, CS gas is","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=387.0,540.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"UNKNOWN SPEAKER: fun. So yeah, that's No, it hasn't changed much.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=541.0,543.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: It's actually very funny. Yeah, last week, my nephew graduated from Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego, and my brother in law was he's retired master sergeant from the Marines, so we go to his graduation last week, and it's funny to listen to my nephew talk about boot camp. We both got to look at each other, and we're like, nothing's changed. Yeah, it's all the same. Nothing has changed. Even you know him, it's 33 years. Me, it's 3028 years, you know. So it's a bit, it's so funny. Yeah,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=544.0,575.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: so boot camp, you do, you do a it said that was one of the longer ones they offered,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=576.0,580.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: yeah, a lot of, like, coursework. It was, it was a lot of coursework, a lot of studying. It was, uh, at first it was pretty easy for me, because you spend the first two weeks at Como school, as they call it, because talking on the radios was a big part of our job. In fact, that was the main part. Art. So we went to at Fort Sill, they have what was called combo school, Communication School and and you learned everything. They taught you how to talk on radio. They taught you how to set antennas up, how to set up, set up the radios, because the army had just moved to the singars radios, and they had just moved into new crypto with and CDs, having the crazy the crazy town, the black box, they had the crypto in it. I'm sure it's totally different even now, yeah, from them, but that was all brand new. So you go and spend two weeks just learning radios, and we had even done our job, we thought, Oh, why are we learning this? Come to find out that main part of your job is talking on radio. Yeah, you do a lot of things on the computer, and you send messages and you send admissions on computer, but the computer goes down. You got to send it by radio. So that part was interesting. And then going to the part learning my MLS, you a lot of map reading, like I said, a lot of overlays, lot like 13 or, sorry, 35 Fox. You got to learn, what do they call it, attack ID, technical identification. You had to learn all the, all the symbols on the map, because you would place those again. You had to do it, because you had to do it. And then, like, the last couple weeks, you get on, put on the LCU, lightweight control computer unit, little green box and a keyboard and a little mouse, but you never use the mouse. It was like a roller ball, and you did it was all just data crunching, yeah, you know, like they would give us all the you give you a book, and it would have all the meteorological data, and it was every so many feet, it would tell you, like, temperature, when ambient temperature was, humidity, this, and it had to be perfect, because if it messes, if it's wrong, it could affect the trajectory of the rockets, right? So they beat it into our heads that it had to be, you had to be exact. It was really a big attention to detail school, yeah. So it just, it just sucked. I like basic better, because basically we do more physical stuff and not sitting in a classroom, and then, like a it, the drill sergeants were just harder on us, because they expected more of us. Like we had to clean the barracks, we had to shine our boots, we had to press our uniforms, yeah, and we got inspected every day. And then I got put in the class leader spot. I was the worst leader the army ever had in 1997 and 98 because I had no idea what I was doing, sure. And I literally got put into the position because I was standing next to the class leader and he failed the PT test. Sergeant fires him, looks to me, says, You're the new class leader. And I'm like, okay, that's how it goes. You don't get to say, yeah, so now you're responsible for this class. I didn't know that. I was so ignorant to leadership, yeah, you know, the leadership I knew is what I saw on TV, or is yelling at guys. Yeah, you can't yell at your skin. Waste some more time and energy. So, yeah. So I it was tough in that respected and just getting out. You know, the higher phases, yeah, phase four, Phase Five. You know, that was like freedom, to finally wear clothes, to stay out, just to go off base, you know. So it was, it was just a different party army. I wasn't expecting, yeah, you know, because I thought I would be kind of like college or like an NCO Academy. Yeah, it was, it was and being a drill sergeant of a it soldiers later, there was totally a method to the madness.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=581.0,824.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: So, yeah, that makes sense, yeah. So after a it, what was it like arriving at your first duty station? Was it nerve wracking? Exciting? Do you remember what the feelings were?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=825.0,837.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: I was excited. It was new. It sucks, because we were staying at Fort Sill. Everyone in my class, I think there, I can't remember how we graduated, like 16 of us. One person went to Germany only because he had it in his contract, sure. So everybody else went to Fort Sill. But there was four Artillery Brigades at Fort Sill, and it was just the time when they needed, yeah, skill level one soldiers. So I was excited, because now I get to go to real army unit, and now I get to experience what the real army is like. So I was really excited about going and what the future would be. I didn't know what to expect, because I just didn't, I didn't know. You just don't know. You don't know how a unit runs. Yeah, you know, because you learn TRADOC, you learn basic training in a it, it's totally different. You know, like, I remember, I'll never forget my first day in the unit. You know that you go and process at brigade? Brigade sent you to battalion. Battalion sent you to the battery, and then the battery you go and you meet your platoon sergeant, and then you meet our leaders. Were called section chiefs. So I met Corporal Frazee, Scott Frazee, he was going to be my section Section Chief, and you know, he's getting me in process, and he's telling me how things are in the unit, and then we have our final formation at close of business, and we're released. And I didn't know what to do. I was like, what do we do now? He's like, he's like, you're off. Go do whatever. Just be a basic judge, be a PT formation in morning. So it was a total change, because you spent so long being told where to go and what to do. That when you have that freedom, you just kind of don't know what to expect. Yeah. So yeah, it was that was a change, of course, I easily got through that. It only lasted one day. And after that, oh, well, after work is yeah, go have fun, or yeah, go sleep or whatever. It was just freedom you didn't have for Yeah, the time and training. Yeah, that's awesome. So great, I bet, yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=838.0,968.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: So this was something you may have a unique experience on. I noticed that you enlisted prior to the September 11 attacks. Do you have any like insight on, like, how the army changed, like, culture wise, like before and after,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=969.0,982.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: oh, it was a huge change. You know, prior to September 11, 2001 Yeah, we were going to fight the North Koreans Iraq or the Russians. That was our, that was our, like, especially in artillery. That was we train to fight desert scenario. So if we had to go back to Iran, we had to fight Saudi Arabia, like they did in Desert Storm. And then you and then, of course, guys who went to Korea, you're constantly ready to fight the North Koreans. So it was that big battlefield training, you know, big divisions moving across the battlefield, and especially in MLRS artillery, because you're, you're, you're an asset, I think you're a brigade level asset, or, of course, higher. And so you're constantly going to learn to fight the big army, you know, like Motorized Rifle battalions, or armor brigades or infantry brigades, and you're learning to find soy. It was huge. And then September 11 happened, and then army kind of I was reclassing at the time. Yeah, I was going from artillery to military intelligence, and I'd only been in military intelligence school couple weeks. Yeah, and I'll never forget that the night of September 11, because we had a mid shift class, it was like from 1500 to 2200 class because they were because our classes were limited by simulator access, because we had common ground stations are needed simulators, and so we're limited on how many based upon simulator, uh, seats. So we would run there's three shifts of class, and I remember we're sitting in class like we didn't even know if we were gonna have school that day, because when, when, when the attacks happened, it was at Pt. We all showed up for PT, and a couple of guys showed up late, and which was weird. We're like, what the heck, you know? Like, what's going on? And they're like, oh, plane crashed into the World train center. And I kind of knew a little history about flying. I was like, well, plane flew into the Statue of Liberty in the 30s, I think, and it was bad weather. So we do accountability, Reveille, salute the flag, and then we go. We went to Barnes Field House, and we went to the gym because we were ready to PT in the gym because we were reclass, so we kind of got to do what we wanted for PT. And when you walk in, the TV showed the tower, and it was on fire, of course, and we're looking at it like it was a clear day. What? What is going on? And then right about that time, the second plane hit, and I remember everybody's just standing there, like, what is going on? You didn't it was a weirdest feeling, because you didn't know what you were looking at. You're like, This can't be real. Yeah. And I remember the class leader was like, All right, guys, just head back to the barracks. I'll give a call to the company and see what's going on and what we need to do. So we went back to the barrister and then we wouldn't watch CNN in the day room, and just then, all sudden, the plane crashes at the Pentagon. So now it's like, I think we're going to war. Yeah, you know that attitude of peacetime left and you train for war. And that's all we knew. And so when we got to class that night, the instructors asked us, they said, if something popped off now and they needed you to go deploy now, would you guys go? And I raised my hand, and I said, old job or new job. And they said, your old job. And I'm like, all. MLST, all the reclass guys, we all shot our hands up, except for one person. And we all shot our hands up, and the privates that were in the class, they're just looking back at us like, Oh my God, what's going on? You know, they, they're, they're just young privates. They don't, they don't understand. So, and we, we were going war. So of course, that took time to happen. And so it was totally so we knew we were going to war. We just didn't quite know who then we find out about al Qaeda terrorist organizations. We still are thinking this is going to be like big unit on the battlefield chasing down the terrorists, and we didn't quite know what that meant. You know, terrorists don't wear uniforms. Terrorists don't fight according to doctrine. Terrorists don't fight and follow Geneva Conventions. So, but we didn't have that attitude, because our training that we had was for big armies on the battlefield, big movements like Desert Storm. You know, that was what we what we had when we didn't. We still fought that way. Of course, we learned later that we have to fight a different we're fighting a different enemy. Yeah. So it was just a big change. And I remember, like, after that our kind of, our attitudes like, Okay, we're going to war, and we don't want to miss it. So that was that they took that we all remember Desert Storm. And it was, what, 100 hours or something like that. So everything was like, okay, war happens. We need to get in it. Yeah, quick. Well, I graduated a it in February, oh two, and was sent to Korea. So, and I knew that was going to happen, because everybody goes to Korea. So I was like, Okay, going to Korea do my year and then try to get to because I wanted to go to Fort Campbell, because I liked, you know, 101st and then I just wanted to go to a division, because that's what I knew in the army. I just I knew divisions and I knew Artillery Brigades. I didn't know about military intelligence brigades and INSCOM and intelligence securities command. I didn't know that stuff, so I wanted to go to Fort Campbell. And so I did my year in Korea, learned MI. You know, of course, you're still fighting the North. You're not fighting but you're observing the north because it's, it's a pause in the fight. Is all they have. They have a treaty that pauses the war. And so I did a year. And then, of course, you know that time was when the Special Forces went to Afghanistan, and then a 101st when a couple of brigades went because they were trying to find the terrorists. Yeah, they came close and didn't find them. And and so then all of a sudden the focus shifted to Iraq. And then it was like, Okay, we're going to Iraq. That's big boom. It's on the battlefield, because Iraq has one of the largest armies in the world. So again, attitude was fighting on the battlefield, providing big units on the battlefield, and march of Oh, three, I got to Fort Campbell about the same time the division flew out to go to Kuwait before they went to Iraq for the invasion. And I'll never forget a buddy of mine, John Moseley, the two of us, he was a 96 Romeo at the time, which is a Ground Surveillance Radar mi job. The two of us were like, We got to get to there. We got to get there. We got to get there. We're going to miss out. How can we be staff sergeants and not have a combat patch? How can we train our soldiers that are already there doing and we're not we thought we were going to miss the fight. And you know, in hindsight, I should have just relaxed as long as we were there. But, yeah, when we got there, and I got to the division and the end of March, when they had already gotten into Baghdad and iskandaria and Karbala, which was southwest during parts of Baghdad the 101st and again, we, you know, it was still a big battlefield movements. It wasn't until we got to Sasso stabilization force in May of Oh, three. They called it the stabilization I don't remember what. I remember sa so I don't remember the stabilization force, because we were going to help the country recover, which it really needed. And so then it, you know, changed to trying to find one guy in the Hilux or a taxi with orange fenders. Hey, you know, we weren't built for that at first, yeah, we had to transition. Yeah, that","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=983.0,1475.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"UNKNOWN SPEAKER: must have been like a crazy time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1476.0,1477.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: It was, it was, but it was fun. It was like the Wild West, as I called it, because, yeah, this was the IED threat came later into the end of the time we were there. And so we went. We took our doors off, our Humvees. We had sandbags on the floor for land mines. And of course, I was like, questioning this. I'm. Like, if a landmine goes off, that sandbags gonna take my head off, right? Or it's gonna sandblast my face, and I'll have a nice, clean skeleton for them to identify. And then they and then we got it north. And then they, they found there's a place called the hook. It's right near the Turkey Turkish border. And they found this guy who could fabricate one inch thick steel plates, yeah, put them in the floors, or these, again, these were just regular Humvees, yeah, no, up armor, nothing, yeah, and that was going to be our help against the IEDs right. Now, I'm like, wait a minute. We're attaching a steel plate with a bolt and a big washer into a aluminum it's like I knew a little bit about physics. I knew this was not going to be good, yeah. So, um, yeah, that transition IED threat and but like I said, we didn't have doors in our Humvees. We wrote around, I wrote around sites and sideways on my Humvee every day with the weapons pointed out. You know, our commander, one of our commanders say we look like porcupines. So it was just a different wave. And the good thing with 201st because we were a stabilization force, we were not there to pick a fight. So the people really liked us, the Iraqi, the local nationals, they they really liked us, and that was good for us, yeah, so it was Mosul. Was that was a Mosul Iraq. It wasn't as bad as it got later.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1478.0,1588.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: That was your first deployment, right? Yeah. Okay. What rank were you at that time?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1589.0,1593.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"UNKNOWN SPEAKER: Staff Sergeant. We got a little nowhere, yeah, I know I jumped.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1594.0,1595.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: No, no, that's my fault. So, yeah, what was that like, I","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1596.0,1599.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"UNKNOWN SPEAKER: guess, what do you mean? I mean, yeah,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1600.0,1602.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: just getting there as, like a staff sergeant first deployment under your belt.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1603.0,1605.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: Like, Well, yeah. And it was funny, yeah, all my whole team, but one guy was all of our first deployments, right? So we didn't know quite what to expect. I had two Sergeant I was a staff sergeant team leader. I had two sergeants, and then I had specialists, PFC and a PB, two. We didn't know. We know what we're taught, what we were trained, we didn't. So my whole goal was to make sure that every one of those guys made it home. And we had the one sergeant on my team. He had to play with third brigade, a 101st to Afghanistan, and it was only like a four or five month deployment, no two, very beginning of Oh, three. So he had experience with deployments, but we were all learning as we went. I mean, everything was new. And again, you know, we're trained for it, because we trained for big movements on the battlefield. I keep saying because that was what the Army fought. It wasn't, it wasn't to try to find, you know, one guy in a town, yeah, who's a suspected terrorist threat. But, but being a staff sergeant, at time, I had my team, and my goal was to make sure that I kept my team as safe as possible. So I brought them all home, so we were going to do our job the best we could, but I was also going to make sure that we kept ourselves safe, and we didn't do anything that was going to get our unneeded to get ourselves in harm's way. We're not infantry fighting force. We, you know, and and we became a human team security. They call it tactical human teams. It was a 35 mic, the human intelligence collectors or the interrogators. We were their security team. So when they would go and do meets with organizations or talent leaders or just anybody, we were kind of like the bodyguards we would protect, the building we would protect because they only carried nine millimeters, because they didn't. Again, this was not a show of force to the Iraqi people. We were showing them that we wanted to help them and turn and bring their country back. Because Saddam had ran, you know, as a dictator and ran his country however he wanted. And, yeah, and of course, the government bent to His will. So bringing that country back, and being up in the north, where you had Kurdistan, and you had the Kurdish people who were persecuted against by the Iraqis because they weren't, you know, they were a different tribe. And that's one thing we learned. Was everything's tribal in the Middle East. You know, it wasn't, you say the Westerners put the lines on the map what these countries were, but they all follow tribal, yeah, tribal customs, because that was what they did. So we had, you know, of course, I was learning that. So us, being a security team. We went out every, almost every day we'd have Fridays off, which was rest and refit, you know, but every day we're out of time. So we really got to learn the customs. We really got to learn the by different people. It was, it was a fun time because of that. I mean, obviously there was Trent and obviously there were. Because, you know, there were days that were a little more dangerous than others, but, like what happened","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1606.0,1811.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"UNKNOWN SPEAKER: down the road, you didn't get to","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1812.0,1813.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: do your job in country for about a month. Common Ground Station. It is a it tracks the battlefield. The Air Force flies an EA Charlie. It's basically a converted Boeing 707, and it has a big boom underneath the plane, yeah. And it uses Doppler radar and, and all Doppler radar is, is it tell if anything moves that has raid radar. It like reflects radar energy will come back as a.or they return, and we would have to interpret what dots on the battlefield were. And yeah, of course, you learned in at the time it's called 96 Hotel. 96 hotel school, you learn how to interpret that and but that's a big battlefield. We were a brigade level asset, so we were at a brigade level, and of course, you had a our higher echelon was at Division level, and we're tracking the battlefield, so we're there to tell the commanders, because we have near real time information to tell the commander the enemy is moving. Because enemy, you know, again, traditional doctrine, enemy would move by this formation. So you could tell by them, by the returns, if it was moving. But of course, return, you know, anything reflects radar energy. Could be water on a water on a tree and the tree rustling in the breeze, or concertina wire blowing in the breeze, or, since it was Doppler radar weather patterns and weather systems. So our job was to interpret what that was. And in the very beginning of the war, at the end of March, beginning of April, that was kind of easy, because the army was, although the Iraqi soldiers dug in, there wasn't much movement, but they were dug in, so you couldn't really tell. We could see our movements on the field battlefield. But again, I got there after the big ground movement from Kuwait to Baghdad. When I got there, they were Purdy in southeast or southwest Baghdad. Iskandaria Karbala, which is south west of Baghdad, so and that was pretty much at the point where, like, everything had stopped, like we had gotten Saddam had left. His sons had left. The country was without a leader. A lot of the Army, a lot of the military, you know, we dropped leaflets that said, Turn your barrels the opposite direction and we won't harm you. And so they were, they were like, surrendering because they didn't have, they didn't have nothing to fight for. Yeah, anymore, yeah. So, and I'm kind of jumping around, that's alright, so we would so by the time we had gotten up to Mosul, where we had a dude grab attack convoy driving hundreds of miles and convoy up to Mosul. By time we got there, our job didn't really exist anymore. Like the EA Charlie would still fly, because J stars, Joint STARS would still fly. It was Air Force platform. We could still connect. But the requests that I'm getting from brigade of what they need, I couldn't fulfill, because we weren't built to track one person or one, you know, three suspected guys in the vehicle. We just we weren't so we wanted to lock it up the shelter and becoming profit team. Security and profit was signal signals intelligence receiving platform, and so we would go with them for like a week at a time, sit on a mountain top, or sit on a hilltop where they were receiving communications from everywhere. And we just pull security. It's boring and it's fun doing it, but it is boring because you're just sitting around waiting for something to happen, and nothing happened anybody. And then finally, my team got moved because we were the brigade team, and my team got moved up to division because they needed more of us to do human team, because, of course, human intelligence became the biggest intelligence leading the way. At that point. We didn't know it, but we watched it evolve, because that became it, because you didn't need us, the all source analysts, three five foxes. They're just collecting their data from. And I'm sure there was other things UAV was still important, because UAV could see on the battlefield near real time, if we suspected something was going on, if there's guys shooting orders, they could kind of figure out where they're at, see the guys. But. Again, we were adapting to this environment of finding terrorist cells and terrorist networks and who we didn't know who was the bad guy was. So it's very difficult, and we struggled for many years. And just because that's how terrorist organizations work, you know, they're not going to be a guy on the battlefield in uniform. I","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=1814.0,2123.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: don't think we touched on what, what made you want to change your job class from fires to Sure.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=2124.0,2132.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: I did the job for about three years. I did two years, about a year and a half Fort Sill. Then I was lucky to get PCs to Bamberg, Germany. They were standing up a battalion. It was going from a single battery to a full battalion. So first to 33rd artillery, and I was in Bravo battery, and we were constantly in the field. Two years I spent in Germany, a year of it was in the field, but that's your job. There's no there's nothing else you can do. So we were and, plus we were a new unit, so we had to train up, we had to certify, we had to be become a an asset, where we were certified to shoot or we were certified to do our jobs. So it was a lot of train ups. So with doing all of that, I learned a lot at Fort Sill in a platoon level. It was a two man section. At first, it was just Sergeant crazy and myself, and then we wound up getting a third guy. But I learned all the all of the job. Sergeant Frazee was one of the best leaders I ever had, because he taught me. He knew about teaching somebody your job, so if he was gone. And so then when I went to Germany, then I looked at the battery Operations Center. So now I'm like, starting to look around, and it's like, as a sergeant or as a senior specialist, and then as a sergeant, I'm looking around and I'm like, I know what sergeant first classes know. Now, of course, they knew way more about leadership. But when it came to our job, I kind of got bored with it, because it was just, it was field or motor pool, field or motor pool, and I was getting bored with it. So I was like, I want to change my job. And so my first enlistment was, was coming up, and I knew I wanted to stay in the Army because I couldn't believe they were paying me. It was so much fun. Yeah, yeah. Field time is field time is rough, yeah, you know, and, and, you know, it's a lot of late nights, a lot of lack of sleep, a lot of constant movement, but it was fun. I love the camaraderie of the team. I loved doing the job I was, I was just, I and I was soldier of the month. It was NCO the month. I had leaders who wanted me to succeed. So they were really helping me out, you know. And I sat Great. PT, score, I could shoot well on the range. So I was the I was a soldier. I was and I wanted to stay in, but I just, I got burned out so quickly with with artillery. Because, like I said, it was the same job every day. It got it, get it real boring to me, yeah. So I was like, Well, what, what options do I have? Yeah. And so I talked to realist financio, and he's like, Well, based on your line scores and this any other you qualify for these military intelligence jobs along with these other jobs. I'm like, ooh, military intelligence. Yeah, that sounds interesting, yeah. And again, it was, what can I do? You know, where I was working with aircraft or just anything. And that 96 hotel came up. And, of course, retention and CEO, he's like, 13 series. You don't know, we have a book that tells you what they do. And I was like, that sounds really interesting. How to do that job, you know? So that's why I changed in and so when I was in fact, it was right after pldc primary, primary leadership development course, and I got promoted to sergeant. I reclassed, okay, and so then I had to wait for school day, so I still did my my two years and in Germany, because it because I was single, so it's a two year tour. And I did that. And then I went to Fort Huachuca in August to go to, yeah, to reclass. But yeah, it was, and I'm so glad I did. I was like, the best thing I did for my career, MLRS, Fire Direction, there's not a lot of senior NCOs, it's very pointy at the top where, I mean, there's a lot, there's, there's a lot of staff sergeants, but there's not a lot of Sergeant First classes. And there's even less first sergeant and, of course, even less Sergeant Major. So I kind of understood the army at that time, yeah. So I was like, well, let's also help me get promoted. Because when I got promoted as Sergeant, the first sergeants that I had were like, gods, yes. And I was like, that's what I want to be. That was my goal. Once I re enlisted, I knew my goal was to become a first surgeon, because the first. Sergeant knew everything. The first sergeant was the best, the first, the first because I had, like, in two very good first sergeants that I learned from, and I was like, I want to be like those guys. You know, they were, they were infallible, yeah, and everybody looked up to him, and they knew. So that was what I wanted to get to. So then what do I got to do to get me to that job that gave me the drive. You know, my first four years was, I'm just going to do this and then get out, yeah, and then, after being in for a year or two, it's like, well, I want to be a sergeant. I want to be a leader. So I did leadership so that you're doing stuff to become a leader. Sorry. So I wanted to be a leader, and I wanted to lead soldiers, because that was interesting to me. So when I went to military intelligence, I started to figure out pretty quick, there's two types of intelligence enlisted guys, those who want to be analysts and those who want to be leaders. Yeah, because those who want to be analysts love their job, those who want to be leaders love being an NCO, not saying an analyst isn't an NCO, but yes, the analysts want to do all the analysts. Yeah, I was. I wanted to take care of the soldiers, because I knew my philosophy was take care of the soldiers. Job to take care of itself. So that's what I wanted. So I so I went the route and that leadership kind of around. I took leadership jobs.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=2133.0,2482.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that's a great segue into after your deployment. You were up for you went to drill sergeant","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=2483.0,2488.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: school, yeah, it was actually a little later. I returned in February of oh four, yeah. And again, I was at Fort. I had only been at Fort Campbell, like three weeks deployed, came back. So I thought I was gonna be at Fort Campbell for a couple years. So I just got into the swing, you know, go to Air Assault School, yeah, you know, get get our stuff refit, get our stuff ready to go. And then, like, a month later, I was on assignment for forts, Fort Huachuca, yeah? And so I thought, perfect. I can go back and be an instructor, and I could teach these guys, because I was a staff sergeant by this time, yeah. And I was like, perfect, go back and be an instructor at the schoolhouse. Teach these guys what I learned. You know, be the the expert, because, you know, Oh 102, nobody had a combat patch, yeah. Or very few did. So nobody had that experience. So that's why I thought, Oh man, I've got combat patch. I got combat time. I've got experience, although not as much, probably most, because we just didn't do our jobs a lot. But I didn't care. I was like, at least I could go teach soldiers, yeah, and train soldiers. So I got four, what you could internet. They put me in an s3 shop, okay, and which was awesome, because now I'm getting my staff time. And being in s3 I really got to see the function of a battalion. Because when you're in staff, you see how battalion works. When you're at company level, platoon level, you only see what's told you by your your company chain of command, or by the chain of command that you fall under for your intelligence, that's all you see when you're battalion level. I was the school's guy. I was the ammo guy. I had to request ammo for ranges. I was the range guy. I had to request the ranges. So you got to really see how battalion functions and all of what the what the one shop does, I kind of understood the two shopping MI, but really it's seen three, four, the six, really understanding how all those pieces helped. And so I was really, like interested. I was glad I was doing it all I wanted, I wanted to train. So even being, even being in the three shop, I would go to the NCO Academy, I'd go talk to the B, not first sergeant, and be like, Yeah, first sergeant, you need an instructor. You know, can you get me out of where I'm at? Because I wanted to train. And I'll never forget, my first sergeant came in one day in the three shop. He's like, hey, Sergeant Moore, go check Atars. You have a school. First words out of my mouth, better not be freaking recruiter, because I'm not, yeah, I'm not a salesman. Yeah, I can't sell. I couldn't sell the RV. So I knew there's two jobs, recruiter, drill sergeants. I'd already been to be knock What else is there? Sure. So sure enough, I had drill sergeant. And I was like, awesome. Yeah. Now I can go to basic training and I can train soldiers. Well, they don't make it. My guys in basic training, drill sergeants. You're an AI. There's very few that got to do it, lucky for them, yeah, but in hindsight, being an A it drill sergeant, really, I learned what a First Sergeant does because the company was huge, and you do all that paperwork. You know you do leave paperwork, you do promotion paperwork, you do rank, rig, problem paperwork. You do all that because the battalion the company can't do. There's just too many. So you do it, you do all that paperwork, you coordinate the ranges, you do all these things. So I was in the back of my mind. I was kind of training soldiers, and I got to but I started thinking about, I was like, Well, this is going to help me be a First Sergeant, because now I'm know how this paperwork operates. I know how to do this now, so I really again, it was that stepping stone to being a First Sergeant. So I did two and a half years as a drill sergeant. Loved it hard job. Yeah, it's it's very it takes a lot of your time, but it was rewarding, because especially my first six months, I was drill sergeant for UAV guys, and I knew they were all going to deploy, and they were all going to be down range, doing their job. And then I they moved me, after six months, over to echo 309, where it was human 35 Mike school. And I knew that, and I knew then I was like, I know exactly what these I didn't know their job, but I knew what they were doing when I was there, because I watched them every day. So I was tough on them privates, because I told them. I was like, if you guys joined you thought you were going to war, you're wrong. I was like, every single one of you is going to leave here and go to a division and you're going to deploy so you so I was very I was tough. I was a very tough drill sergeant because I was a drill sergeant that I saw basic in a it with those artillery guys, so I was no nonsense tough guy and but you know what? I got emails later from soldiers, and I had soldiers come up to me later saying, Thank you. I didn't understand it at the time, but I understand it when I was deployed. Why you were so tough on this, yeah, and that was like the biggest reward to me. It made it all worth it. Yeah,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=2489.0,2808.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1: oh, man, so what? What actual year did you become a First Sergeant? I suppose 2008","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=2809.0,2818.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2: I became a detachment sergeant, but it was detached. It was basically the company was 63 soldiers, yeah, but it was known as it wasn't a so it was, I was a sergeant first class at the time, yeah, and, but I'll never forget my I knew it was a First Sergeant job, and it was probably my third or fourth day in the job. Brigade Sergeant Major came down and called me first sergeant. And everybody called me first sergeant, but when a brigade Sergeant Major did it, and he's like, you're first sergeant, you're doing the job, you have a commander, it really sunk in. But I wanted that job. I had just BCS to Hawaii. I was gonna work in an ace, yeah? And I was like, okay, that's what I got to do for my job. But of course, I was like, what, you know, what leadership job can I get? Can I be a platoon sergeant, you know, and become but coming out of being a drill sergeant, I was still wired tight, became a drill sergeant, yeah? So I had to calm down a little, yeah, because we're in a garrison environment. But I'd been there like two months, and the headquarters job came open because the guy that was the first sergeant there had got put on a he got, he actually got picked up for EA, and he was going to deploy on a NET team. I think that's what they were. All NET team. I think they were like a small intelligence they were small teams of EA master sergeants that would go around and teach Iraqi, teach the Iraqi army, like a technical job. So he was going to do that, so he was leaving. So the job came up to interview. So of course, that's first thing I did. My first sergeant told me, guys like, hey, go interview. Sounds like, all right, what did I put my pack, got my packet together, turned it in, and I went to interview. And you interviewed with the brigade Sergeant command, Sergeant Major. And I'll never forget, I went to the interview, and I thought it was going to be me talking, and it was Sergeant Major who talked a lot, but he was talking about standards. He was talking about expectations. And I'm listening to it. I'm taking notes, you know, doing the good NCO thing, because I really wanted that job. And I'm sitting there, I walked out of there, and I'm like, I don't think he I don't think I've got this job. I think somebody else got it. He just interviewed me, just to go through the motions. I was wrong, because from everything I had done up to that point, pointed me towards first sergeant, yeah. And so sure enough, I found out I got the job. I actually found out on an exercise in Japan, it was like the day we were leaving, we were getting ready to manifest, to head to the airport to fly back, and my company commander, he comes up to me, he's like, hey, when we return, there's a change of responsibility. You're in it. I'm like, what? He's like, you're gonna be the headquarters first sergeant. I'm like, and then I'm like, reality hit me. I'm like, like, Can I do the job? Yeah, and I'll never forget that was a long. Longest plane flight in my life, flying from Japan to Hawaii, going, am I ready? Yeah. Can I do this? Yeah. Do I know enough? Yeah. And I'll never forget I emailed a First Sergeant friend of mine, Lynn burgers. He was my first sergeant when I was a drill sergeant at Echo 309 that I'd always looked up to him. He was a drill sergeant. He was the first sergeant. When he spoke, everybody listened. He was again, a model of a First Sergeant, and I'll never forget we're still good friends to this day. And I emailed him, and I was like, I was like, guess what? I got selected to be a First Sergeant. Do you have any advice for me? The first thing he said, he's like, remember, you're not a drill sergeant, and that your NCOs know their jobs. Because, you know, when you're a drill sergeant, you do everything because you have privates. They don't privates are there to for school. They're not there to do anything else. So you do everything. So it hit me, it was like, I need to pay attention to what I'm doing. I need to let my NCOs do their job, but I was still tough, because I still had that old drill sergeant mentality that's tough on my NCOs. NCOs were not happy because I was, yeah, I wasn't treating them like privates, but I also wasn't giving them a lot of leash. I was micromanaging a little too much. And finally, like, one day the NCOs like, they're like, first sergeant, can we talk to you? And I'm like, sure, you know. And of course, I'm thinking, I'm doing the best job in the world. I got this figured out. They said they're like, first sergeant. We know our jobs. We know we're doing. Yeah, you don't have to manage this, micromanage us. Yeah. I thought that I sat there and I was like, it takes a lot of guts for them to come in here, just like, I better listen. And so sure enough, I started to change and let them do their jobs. And it was awesome. And I got to be a first surgeon, and it was the best feeling, although it was a hard job, again, this is tough jobs because you you're taking care of that company. And I had headquarters companies. So I had staff, I had I had mechanics, I had chaplains and chaplains assistants, but again, working in a three shot before that helped me to know how a battalion works. So then I learned really fast that at that level, as a senior NCO, e7, e8 that I don't need to train my NCOs, I need to train those junior officers. Yeah, so like, I remember I had, we had XO Second Lieutenant. I dragged him in the office when I was like, Hey, sir, you come to me if you got any questions, I'm going to teach you how this works. Because I started to remember everybody talked about officers, and they said, well, Lieutenant, sir, don't know nothing, and I figured out real fast, well, they don't know them because you're not teaching. So I got real mad at my NCOs I would complain about their officers. I'm like, Hey guys, you know you're the trainer, and you're going to train that officer just as much as you train that enlisted guy. And of course, they're like, well, they should have learned ROTC, or they should have learned at the Academy. And I'm like, and I just shoot back better, like, what did you learn a lot in a it about how to do things. You're like, No, I learned my job. I was like, yeah, exactly. So I was like, your job is to train that Lieutenant as well, you know? And of course, you have NCOs that, yeah, some get it, some don't, you know. And you got to work that, but, but I learned really fast, and I also had to teach my officers, my captain, my commander, and I learned that my job is to keep my commander from getting fired. My job is to keep my commander successful. Yeah, and so that, once I figured that part out, I really enjoyed my job, because then you got to be more of a mentor, and you're mentoring your NCOs, you know, you're pulling them in the office and you're talking to him, or you used to call Trooping the lines. You go down the motor pool and just talk to your maintenance guys. You know, I had a, again, I was very lucky. I've always had great leaders. I had a one of the best battalion Sergeant Majors you could ever work for, Command Sergeant Major, Mark Mathis, and he taught me so much about being a headquarters first sergeant. Yeah, that I and especially as an e7 because I had e7 my s1 NCO is e7 my s3 NCO is an e7 we're only seven. My positions a little higher, but he was a counter Intel guy, and he told me one day he's like, you know, the best thing you could ever ask them. I say, hey, I need your help. People naturally want to help. Yeah, you know, some don't. They're jerks, but most naturally, once I learned that and I learned that dynamic, I got along with all of them a lot better, you know, yeah, we were all the same rank, but my position was a little higher. I respected what their jobs were, and I didn't tell them how to do their jobs. Yeah, we all had to work together. But little Sergeant Major, he was the best. I got lucky. It might be in my career. I got very lucky to have good NCOs, I had some, I had some crappy ones. And you know, you're gonna get that anywhere good. NCOs, bad. NCOs, good officers, bad officers, good soldiers. Basketball, you're gonna get. It. You just have to learn from them. You learn from everybody. I learned from I learned just as much from the bad NCOs bad officers as I did from the good NCOs and the good officers. So it was a lot of it was flying in and I loved doing that job as a First Sergeant, again, tough job, like I said, but I did that for two years, and didn't really want to give up the job, but hey, it was my time. My time was done. The next the next sergeant had to come in, and she took over. So that was my first go around as a First Sergeant, and then I got moved into the ace. And was the ACE operations sergeant. It was kind of, wasn't a made up job. It wasn't a, they kind of put me in that job to function the ACE, to keep the aid, the analysis, control health. And we were the ACE for United States, Army, Pacific. So we had a very big footprint to work. And so I, you know, I started to really enjoy the operations part, you know, again, if I can make sure that the building is working, functioning right. Everybody could do their jobs. They don't have to worry about it. If we're getting something new, I'd make sure they got all the training, you know, because, again, if I could take care of that, they're going to learn that stuff, and they're gonna be able to do their jobs. Yeah. So I did that for the year that I was there, and then I PCs back to Huachuca, and that was family related. My dad lived in Tucson, and his health was failing, so I was trying. I didn't do a compassionate but I knew I could get back to Huachuca. But of course, my whole goal is I wanted to be a training company first sergeant. I wanted because the army had transitioned from drill sergeants to platoon sergeants. They had the exact same job, but they weren't trained like a drill surgeon. Drill Sergeant school is nine weeks of basic training. The difference is, instead of learning how to shoot, you learn how to teach privates so and you learn the regulations, and you learn what you can and can't do, and you learn how to keep yourself because being a drill sergeant is a tough job, because you very you were the boss. Everybody knows you're the boss, but you can't abuse them, and privates will do things that'll make you mad. You cannot lose your career over a private. So yeah, but the army of transition asked for we were told it was to make it more like a regular unit. My opinion, it was the cost cutting measure sure drill sergeants is getting $375 a month of extra pay. If the army doesn't have to pay that, they could spend more that money on bullets, which I'm okay with, because we need that her. We need new equipment. I understand it, but then at the end of the day, you still got to have trained and competent soldiers to do their job. Yeah, so, but that had gone away. The two sergeants, I think, had a two or three week school, and so they were getting pushed through quickly learn how to do PT. Learned how to finer points in a very fast motion of how to take care of these soldiers. And it was only an ait level. So I wanted to go to those units, to those training units, and teach the platoon sergeants. And that was what my that's what I was looking for. So when I got down, when I had gotten to Fort Huachuca, I was just hoping I was gonna get picked up for EA, Master Sergeant, first sergeant, my hope was, and I did. So I got there in October, I think it was November, I got picked up. So first thing I did is I got on the distro to find out 81st Sergeant jobs I was going to interview for everyone, and I did, and I interviewed for one and, like, within the first two minutes, you know, of me introducing myself, Sergeant Major, looking at my ERP, and he has two yards, he looks me dead in the face, and he's like, you know, you're not a drill Sergeant anymore, yeah. And I looked at him, and I was like, I understand that sergeant major, and I don't want to be a drill sergeant anymore. I did my ad, my fun. And I think he thought I would want to go there and yell at privates, yeah. And my whole that's just the feeling I got in the thing, you know, in my I was trying to convince him that I wanted to train those platoon sergeants, set them up for success, so that they knew their left and right limits, and they knew what they could do. That was my job, but he was really fixated on it. So I left there thinking, There's no way I got that company. And I didn't. And then I interviewed at another company. It was almost like the same thing where the sergeant major was like, Well, you're not a drill sergeant anymore. We don't have drill sergeants. And again, I'm again, I'm trying to fight for myself, and I'm like, Sergeant Major. I don't want to be a drill sergeant. Yeah, you know, I've got there are platoon sergeants that I feel like would benefit from my leadership because of my experience as a drill sergeant. They're not wearing a hat, they're not wearing the badge, but they can see. They'll do the same job and they can be successful. That was kind of my pitch, and it just they were really fixated on my feelings. I'm not going to speak for them. It was my feeling coming out of there. They were more fixated on, well, we don't need driller sergeants around here. We need platoon sergeant so I was really bummed, because I had interviewed for like, three companies, and I thought I was a shoe. And I was like, There's no way they wouldn't pick me. So I got beat down a little bit. And I'll never forget, a friend of mine called me one day. He's like, Hey, you still want to be a First Sergeant? I'm like, Absolutely. He's like, good, up the garrison. The headquarters Garrison job was open, and I'm like, What the hell does the headquarters Garrison do? Yeah, I had no idea. He's like, Well, they're kind of the town hall for the post, sure, but they got Honor Guard, and they've got all those little, you know, a DAB or ASAP, the substance abuse. They got the chaplains. And I'm like, okay, cool. Headquarters job. But did it. I'll do it again. Yeah, I wanted to, because I wanted to wear the diamond, because when I was in Hawaii as a detachment sergeant, first sergeant. And, you know, still wearing a seven Sergeant class ring. I wanted the diamond. I always joke, my joke with the cadets. Now it's the only diamond. So I had so I went to apply, and that interview went way different. You know, Sergeant Major Soriano, who was the garrison sergeant major at the time. He, you know, brought me in. He was excited I was there. He saw that I worked in the headquarters before he saw that operations experience. Saw that was a drill sergeant. And he never said anything about that. But he's like, Hey, I just need a good NCO that could manage things. And I'm like, Sergeant Major, I'm your man, you know. And he's like, Well, this job's a little different than what you think. He's like, You need to become the good thing. You were a drill sergeant, so you know how to march. You need to become an expert at Italian level functions and changes a command brigade level, changes a command installation level. I'm like, I'm your man. I could do that. I'd stood in enough of them. Yeah, we've all had to stand in those changing commands and change the responsibilities. So and then, of course, being a First Sergeant, you see a battalion level how it runs. So he, I think I was selected. I think he told me I had the job that day, because I guess not so many people interviewed, or they just weren't a good interview. Yeah. So now again, reality sets in. Now I'm gonna be a real first surgeon, but I'm a garrison. What does Garrison do? Yeah? So I immediately went down and I talked to outgoing Sean Williams, was the outgoing first sergeant, and he just okay, here's what you do. And and I was like, All right, he told me, and I talked to the commander. That was the other good thing, Sergeant Major, is like, Look, you have the job, but I want you to go down, talk to the commander, get a feel for it. You want to do this job? Of course, in the back of my mind I'm saying, I'm thinking, There's no way I'm turning this down. Yeah, you know, I want this job. I finally, I'm getting that job opportunity. But of course, you know, went down there, talked to the commander, Captain Westling, and he was a lot of fun. He's a we're talking earlier about branch detail. He was branch details infantry, and so he still had a lot of infant am I? Yeah. So he still had a lot of infantry mindset, which I was used to, because I had a commander in Hawaii, same thing where he was infantry guy, you know, you did for three, four years, just like when I was artillery. You get fixed on that. So that helped me, too, because I could relate to them a little better. I had one mi officer who was actually commander, was in my officer all the way through, and he was totally different, but he was one of the smartest individuals I'd ever worked with, Captain bad or I mean, he had intelligence. I mean, he was a guy that I could talk to about motorcycles and working on cars, but he could also talk to me about the world's economy, sure and shape and the function of some of these countries in this world. It was amazing, you know, so. But it back to Captain Wesley. I went and interviewed. I just went down to say, Hey, sir, I interviewed for the job, and Sergeant Major wanted me come down talk to you about what this job entails. And he was awesome. He's like, What do you think you do? I was like, honestly, I don't know much. I know I got out of guard, and I know I got post the installation level activities. And he's like, Oh, yeah. So here's, here's what it is. He broke it down very well. And again, in the back of my mind, I'm like, I don't care if I had 30 soldiers and they were all, you know, working at the ammo supplies. I didn't care, yeah, I just wanted the job. Yeah. And then I go talk to the first sergeant again. Same thing. He was getting ready. He was he had actually gotten a back injury, so he was ready to go and talk to him. And he was excited that finally somebody, Sergeant Major. Selected, I guess, yeah, because he had injured his back running and took a bad step. And he was a jump master, so he had a lot of jumps under his belt. So I'm sure the body was, you get to that age, the body's just not what it used to be. And he took a bad step running, he was due for a back surgery. So talked to both of them. You know, I was down there for a couple hours, went back right back to Sergeant major's office. Like, Sergeant Major, there's no way I'm not taking this job. I'm your man. He's like, All right, yeah. And I was like, he sent me over to the s1 is like, Alright, get him orders. And so that was really, really cool that I moved to that job, and then my daughter got to promote me the first sergeant. So that was, like, the coolest thing, you know, and I got right to work at that job was a totally different dynamic, because you are at an installation level. You have the operations guys, you have ASAP army substance abuse program. I had chaplains, assistance I had that was it. It was Operation DP, TMS, and then you have the honor guard. And the honor guard is very busy for what you could. They do almost 400 funerals a year. They would do all brigade level, all brigade level, changes of command. So because they would provide the cannon Salute Battery, they would be the installation color bearers and all that so. And that was where Sergeant Major Soriano was completely right that when I would show up to these events, all the brigade, all the battalion sergeant majors, and even brigade Sergeant Major would just turn to look at me, and I had to be a subject matter expert. You don't fumble that, yeah, you don't, you can't fumble that ball because they're expecting me to. So I got very astute, very good at what I was doing. I was very lucky the Mi core Sergeant Major, Sergeant Major, fairly, was actually my brigade sergeant major in Hawaii, so he knew how it worked. So he put a lot of trust in me. And there was many times, like, when I would show to an installation level event or brigade even the brigade level event, he'd look at all the sergeant majors, like, listen to what he says. He's gonna tell you how this works. And I'm sitting here, like, Sergeant Majors, I listen to them. It's not the other way around. Yeah. But I was at that expert, so I had to learn that, and then I got to see how the installation operates. It's different. But we were like, we were like, the City Hall, yeah, you know, the garrison commander is the mayor, because you have, of course, the Fort Huachuca, you have mi corps commander, and I always thought of him as like the governor, sure host, because he was overall and you had multiple commands so, you know, but he was the boss, and then you had one of the mayors of the town that functions, like the mayor of Phoenix, yeah. It was kind of like that. Yeah, that was just how I interpreted. And then we had so it was a fun job. I got to do stuff way out of the ordinary. Still had soldiers right. Still had to do go deal with soldier stuff, whether good or bad. I had like the installation NCO of the year, Sergeant Roscoe, but then I had the chaplains assistants who were all in jail at some point or another in my two years. Sure, whereas being a chaplains assistant does not mean you were a child, so I got very, very busy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=2819.0,67.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1  1:0: So during your time in service, you're given lots of awards and decorations. One that stood out to me was the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. Can I ask to hear the story about how you earned this?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=68.0,67.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2  1:0: Sure the Defense Meritorious Service Medal is actually a joint award, like a joint combination medal, or joint Achievement Medal after my time as the garrison first sergeant. My dwell time because I hadn't deployed since 2004 was up, and I knew I needed to deploy again. You know, I it's my turn to go. You know, a lot of guys have gone before me, and I it was my turn to go. Plus, I hadn't been to, I hadn't been anywhere in 10 years I wanted, I wanted to go out and, you know, do my job again. So I got selected for a Ys task, or it's a worldwide augment t something service, basically, when a unit deploys, if they don't have that job filled, they put in a request, and they get a one person to come in to fill that job. And I wound up going to just sort of a Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan. And I was there, j2 and COIC, and we had, it was a joint at Camp Moorhead. It South Kabul. It was where camp Commando. The Afghans called it camp commando because that's where their commando school was, which is their version of the Rangers Army Rangers. They also had special forces there. So the j2 part of the j2 job was screening, where we had to screen all of the Afghan National Army soldiers going to those schools. We had to screen them to see if there were potential green on blue threat, because green on blue killings had happened. So we had to, kind of, you know, we had to figure out where they're bad guys trying to get into the school that could pose harm to the US, or even the Afghan leadership. So we would have to screen 300 you know, Afghans, and that involves fingerprints and interrogate, not interrogations, but questioning, and looking through their pocket trash, looking through their phones, you know. Or do these guys, any of these guys, have links to terrorist cells you know? Did the terror cell you know, get them to try to infiltrate or try to cause chaos? So we had a very important job, and that was new for me again, not being counterintelligence, not being human team, human intelligence guy. I had to rely on my contractors. I had to rely on my mi guys that I had there. So it was a joint. I had an Air Force guy there. We had Navy around us. And it was also my first time working with special operations, which was eye opening. I love mi but military intelligence, but it's like people have to be the smartest man in the room or smartest woman in the room, and special operations, at least, where I was, if you knew what you were talking about, and they could trust you. They were going to listen to what you had to say. So of course, you need to be correct. You can can't blow smoke, can't get bad data. You have to be correct. And it was really a lot of fun to be in that environment where you're trusted by what you're saying, and you prove your trust. And of course, we have Colonel dumar. He's known as doom. He was a full bird, Colonel Special Forces guy, I'm sure he'd been doing special forces for many years. Very intimidating man, very tall and a very deep voice. You made sure you did not upset that. Man, yeah, but he was great. And I learned from him, I was, we were the intelligence cell. There was two parts to the j2 there was the j2 that was the advisors to the Afghan j2 so, in fact, I had a major that I would go mentor Najibullah. He was, but he was the officer in charge of the Afghan screening. See our goal in 2014 2015 was to train the Afghan army to do what we were doing screening. And it's very challenging. Adrian ajibola did not make it easy for me, because he just he had the attitude that the Americans are always going to be here and the Americans are always going to do it. He just wanted to show how good he was, even I was like, Wait, it's like, Hey, sir, you have captains here that are doing an excellent job. We need to take care of those captains. Oh no, no, no, Sergeant Moore, we need to. I'm like, yeah, it was a very it was demanding working with him, because he was he, he wasn't. He was more about himself and not about the mission and his but his two captains he had on that I can't remember their names. I remember one I used to call Pancho Villa. He had bullet belts, like it was like nine millimeter bullets for his handgun. And he wore, like spenders, and I always call the Pancho Villa, is how we see the pictures of Pancho Villa with the cross bullets. But yeah, those guys were very good. They were they were very intelligent. They were very I liked working with them, because they truly wanted to prevent the threat of green on blue and prevent the threat around this. So I did that for six months, and then that actually that that award was for my time there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=68.0,73.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 1  1:1: So what was your transition like from when you finally got out as a soldier to your civilian job now, working in the JROTC, it","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=74.0,73.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2  1:1: wasn't much of a change. It's actually a rather funny. I had no idea what JROTC was until, I think I was a staff sergeant in the Army at Fort Huachuca. They needed a cadre to go to the leader. Reaction course, and buena High School JROTC came out there to do LRC. So we were the lane safeties, and I watched how these high school students were going through the course, and I was watching how intelligent they were and how they were working as a team. And I just, I was like, wow, that's really interesting. It's kind of cool. But again, I was still young in my Army career. I didn't even think about it. Yeah. Then when I was the garrison first sergeant, I was part of the Military Affairs Committee, which is under the Chamber of Commerce. And every month they were business leaders. They would host a lunch, a lunch, and they would, they would award the like soldier of the month, soldier of the quarter, and two of the quarter in two of the years of the year. They would award them against civilian side. Well, they would also bring in guest speakers. And one day they brought the battalion commander, again from buena High School, and Sergeant Major Command, Sergeant Major McDaniels, if I remember his name. He was the senior Army instructor there, so I just kind of talked to him for a few minutes about the job. I was like, what does it entail? What do they do? And he was just telling me, and I'm just, you know, being nice and listening. But then when his battalion commander is a senior in high school, and he had the installation commander two star general, the that con commander was Star generals, and he delivered this speech about JROTC, and it was very intelligence, very put together. He was very poised. I was like, Wow, that's so impressive for a high school senior. So I just put in the back of my mind to check into that later, because I still had a few years left in the army, and I had started thinking about what to do when I was getting out. So when it came around that time where it's time that year out from getting out, what am I going to do? And my wife, I just I met my wife later in my Army career, and she's a kid. She was a second grade teacher at the time. So Chris, she never summers off. She fall break, spring break, a lot of time. Well, that's pretty good. That's a bad deal, you know, being a teacher, but I didn't want to teach. I was like, Oh, I could be a teacher, because I like to train. I don't want to. I was never good at algebra, barely, you know, English. I knew enough to write NC. We are as an award instead of my English, and I didn't want to teach social studies, because I'd want to teach history, according to me, according to what I'm interested in, what the state is going to tell me. I don't care about Byzantine Empire. Let's talk about the Civil War, or let's talk about, yeah, so um, I started looking into JROTC, and I was like, Man, that's really cool. I was like, but is there any positions open? You know, I didn't know how it works, so I started looking online, and I found there was a position open at Cholla High School in Tucson with and major spice. Steve spies is the senior Army instructor there. So I cold called him one day. I was like, Hey, sir, you know, Master Sergeant Moore, currently in the army. I'm getting ready to retire. I'm really interested in JROTC position. Can you tell me about the position? And you know, the one thing about major species, one of the most positive individuals I've ever met. He says, Oh, it's just great job. You're gonna love it. We do all this stuff. And he's like, hey, you know, send me your Erb, send me your bio. You know, we're looking for an army instructor, you know. And of course, I sent it to him, and like, the next day he calls me, and he's like, hey, when can you start? And I'm like, I Sir, I gotta retire first. So one of the cool things he did, he's like, Hey, look, we have JCLC coming up. It's a cadet leadership camp out at Fort Huachuca. Can you come out for a couple days, meet the cadets, meet the instructors from the other schools and see if it's for you, and then on Monday, you can interview at the high school if you want to do the job. And I was like, perfect. Let's do it. So took four day pass flew out because I'd already had my leave turned in for so I couldn't burn leave. So luckily, my battalion commander at the time was really awesome. He knew he was I was looking for a job, and he's like, Well, if you want to do JROTC that, go for it. Got a four day pass flew out because I was stationed in Fort Stewart out Savannah, Georgia, flew out, spent the weekend with with the cadets, with the instructors, picked their brains, and I'm like, this job is a great and I'm watching the cadets and what they're doing. And I was like, in the back of my mind, I'm like, this is like the safest job for me, because I can still kind of do army stuff, but I'm teaching teenagers, and I knew I could do it from training privates, so it was absolutely","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=74.0,78.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"UNKNOWN SPEAKER  1:1: natural transition, yeah, like, not nothing, like, nothing hard about the","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732#t=79.0,78.999"},{"id":"https://arizona.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2980/collection_resources/153668/file/282732/transcript/81688/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SPEAKER 2  1:1: civilian No, no. So I interviewed, and they all. To be the job that day I took and I jumped, yeah, of course. I'm sorry. I was getting close to retiring, and I'm like, What am I going to do for a job? And I got a family to take care of, so it's like I got it, but I wanted to do so I didn't want to jump from job to job, yeah, and I never did enough analyst work to ever be worth as a contractor, sure. Nor did I want that volatility of the contractor world like you every three years, you don't know if you got a job or not. I like, I like the safeness. Obviously, the Army is very safe, you know, you always got a job. Yeah, you always gonna get paid. You know, very safe. And so I started in 2000 2017 18 school year in Cholla, and I did two years there, and I loved it. I thought this is a great job. And so is a tough school. It's tough area Tucson. The kids are hard to motivate, but it was worth it. You know, when you could see them graduating, you could see the work you put into them. And then I live in Rio Rico. My wife works in Nogales, so we and we were getting a house built. So the job at Rio Rico opened up, and I jumped on it, yeah. And I took that job, and I've been there since 2000 the 1920 school year, yeah. And I absolutely love the job. I love teaching the kids. I don't I learned real fast. I don't need to teach them to be a mini me. I need to let them learn how to be leaders on their own. So I let them make mistakes, I let them find their way as a leader. 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