My enlistment began during the summer of 1992 when I sent a postcard from a magazine for a poster of an F-14 Tomcat.  Next thing I knew, the Navy recruiter was calling me.  I almost enlisted in the Navy since my father was a Navy Veteran; however, I quickly changed my mind to the Army after visiting the recruiter’s office in Concord with a friend.  I signed up with a Ranger Contract.  In July 1993, I was sworn into Active Duty and went to Fort Benning, GA, for Basic Training and Infantry School.  After that, I went across post to the Airborne School, and from there down the road to the 75th Ranger Regiment HQ, where the Ranger Indoctrination Program was located.  At the time, it was a three-week course designed to get you up to some sort of speed to become an Army Ranger.  While in the program, I injured my foot on a run and was unable to perform the two parachute drops.  Despite my injury, I was able to graduate and was granted an assignment to the 1st Ranger Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, GA.

After several months there, I decided it wasn’t for me and was then transferred to South Korea.  There I was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Battalion 506th Infantry Regiment, way up by the DMZ at Camp Greaves.  At the time, that was the most forward-deployed unit in the U.S. military.  While there, I was assigned to the battalion support platoon and was qualified to drive 5-ton trucks and Humvees.  I did a lot of driving and was awarded two Army Achievement Medals, and I think I qualified for the Driver’s Badge, although it was never awarded to me. During this time, I was promoted to Private First Class.

Once my year tour was up, I got orders for Ft Campbell, KY, despite attempts to get an assignment to Fort Drum, NY.  Before leaving Korea, I was told by several friends that the 187th Infantry was the unit to be in.  Once I got to Campbell, at reception, I asked to get an assignment to the 187th, the famous (or infamous) Rakkasans.  Whether my request was granted or not, I was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. 

I was at Fort Campbell for the remainder of my active service and absolutely loved it there.  The Rakkasans were a high-speed unit, and we trained a lot.  While there, I went to the Air Assault School.  At first, I was in the HQ Company and was once again put in the battalion Support Platoon.  During this time, I was promoted to Specialist.  

After about 10 months, I was gladly transferred to Bravo Company and was assigned as the 3rd Platoon’s RTO.  Right away, we began training for the Expert Infantry Badge.  I was worried that because of all my time in the support platoon, I would not do well, but my training NCO, Sgt. Kirkwood was an excellent soldier, and he got me up to speed.  I’m proud to say my whole squad, including myself, got our EIBs. One bonus of all this was that a friend of mine from Basic/Infantry School, Robert Meadows, was also in 3rd Platoon with me.  He was also at Camp Greaves in the 506th, but I didn’t know until I was leaving Korea.

In the summer of 1996, our unit was alerted to a possible deployment to Saudi Arabia. Rumors flew around about what our mission would be, and we prepared for combat, but as it turned out, it was simply a security mission. This was around the time Khobar Towers was bombed, and many Air Force personnel were killed.  We would be going to an Army installation near Khobar Towers.  We had some training in crowd control and other operations provided by our brigade’s MP unit and also local Special Forces guys from the 5th Group, located at Ft. Campbell.  As the weeks went by, we got more details of the mission. 

In December, my company went to Saudi Arabia. My platoon was the last to leave.  We spent about 5 1/2 months there guarding a small installation, which was a battalion of Patriot Missile launchers pointed toward Iraq.  Our battalion’s Alpha Company had been there before us and had rotated back before we got there or shortly after.  At the same time, our Charlie Company was also there, and they were assigned to guard another area down the road.

During our time there, the platoons worked six days a week, rotating positions such as: gate guard, tower guard, and a roving Quick Reaction Force.  Despite some terrorist threats, we had no issues.  At the end of our tour, most of us were awarded an Army Achievement Medal (my 3rd) and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.  We rotated back to Campbell in late April 1997 with a layover in Germany, where we had some fun.

After returning to the States, we got two weeks of leave, and then it was back to business as usual. I requested and was granted a move to 3rd Squad, and was a Grenadier (M-16 rifle with a grenade launcher) and an Automatic Rifleman (M-249 SAW gunner) while in the squad.  My friend Robert reenlisted and left for another assignment.  Other guys also left during the summer of ’97.  During field training in September, my friend Bill Larion, a M-60 gunner, had to leave for whatever reason, and I talked the Weapons Squad Leader into letting me take over the M-60, which was granted.  We did an awesome nighttime air assault mission and attacked the “enemy” in the mock village. 

My time was getting short as well; I was due to ETS in November.  I decided to reenlist in the NH National Guard and got an assignment to Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion 172nd Mountain Infantry.  At the time, the company was in Lebanon, NH.  In October, I began to out-process, and I had some leave time left, so I got about three weeks of ETS leave. I left Fort Campbell near the end of October.

While in the Guard, I volunteered to go with other guys to Germany for Annual Training in September 1998.  At the end of the training, we all voted for who was the Best Enlisted Man and the Best NCO.  To my surprise, I was awarded an engraved pocket knife by my fellow soldiers, which I still have.  We all got awarded an Army Achievement Medal and the Reserve Forces Overseas Training Ribbon.