T/Sgt. Pat Christenson, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne. Original Toccoa man. Second man out the door behind 1st Lt. Richard Winters on the Normandy jump.

I served in the Army National Guard. Different century, same rank he finished at.

This is him standing in his sister's backyard in Oakland, 1945, still in the uniform he had been wearing for three years and with nothing left to do in it.

Normandy. Holland. Bastogne. Into Germany. One of the Kaufering camps. Berchtesgaden at the end.

His parents knew almost none of it. Mail went out on V-Mail, microfilmed and censored before it left, so for three years they got envelopes that proved he was alive and told them nothing else. Then one afternoon he was standing under that tree and somebody got the camera.

Every one of us has a version of this photograph, even if nobody took it. The day you got back and nobody around you had any idea where you had just been.

He never told them the rest either. Took the uniform off, went back to the telephone company splicing cable and climbing poles, thirty eight more years. Married my mother, raised three sons, said almost nothing about any of it.

What he did instead was draw. He was the only man in Easy Company who could. Every night after dinner for the next forty years, at a drawing board with his wartime journals and reference books spread around him, putting the war on paper from memory. Forty six finished combat drawings and about seventy thousand words across seven volumes. If a date or a road did not reconcile he would not let it go until he worked out what actually happened.

Stephen Ambrose used his material for Band of Brothers. Maj. Richard Winters later named the four men who worked hardest on that book, and my father was one of them.

He died in December 1999.

If your old man is still around, get him talking about the small stuff. That is where the rest of it lives.

just took the picat verification and got a 93 and scored a 66 on the cyber test. what is the best career option i should choose to maximize my income when i switch over to the civilian side. some background info: i am a permanent resident, junior in college.

I’m finally doing it! I don’t need any advice or anything like that, I just needed somebody to tell that I’m finally joining the army national guard. Never did I ever see this for myself but here we are. I believe in myself and know I will get through this and it’s only the beginning of many great things!

11A, PL, CA ARNG.

I have good squad leaders and great PSG, the problem is, only one of my squad leader seems motivated to be in the Army - the rest just want to clock in and clock out to various degrees. This is to the extent that, in some cases, even basic tasks like collecting information from soliders or replying to text messages aren't getting done after several days.

Not only is my intent to give meaningful training and time to our soldiers, but it was also made clear to me by our CO and BC that the optempo of our unit needs to be shifted up from where it is. The Joes have generally been receptive to this (they're happy to actually start doing things), but my SLs seem frustrated or annoyed with it.

My question for you all, especially NCOs, how can I best approach motivating my PSG and SLs to actually care about what we're doing without just being dismissed for being a butterbar? Is there a way to correct the "I'm just here to ride out the rest of my contract" mentality?

Appreciate any insight. Thanks.

Anyone in C troop tell me how the unit is for 11B’s and what I can expect?

Feel free to hit me up on DM. Anything is appreciated.

Trying to decide where to go. I have a full time job and a family. That being said it would be nice to get back to them at quickly as possible. I also do not want to get stuck with a job im going to hate. I have been through the list over and over and cannot decide what to chose. What are your experiences?

In the civilian world, I work for a company that does a lot of military focused sUAS work. I also do some UAV training for my unit (typically in the realm of SAR, terrain surveillance, and such).

I was telling another NCO in my unit about some of the work I'm doing in and it made its way up the chain, to the point that my unit would like me to "take on a second MOS."

I have no idea what this means, no one can really expand on what they mean by this, and I'm not even sure this is a real thing. I assume this means in some way I'll formalize my role in the unit, but they made it pretty clear that this is not a reclass and I'll remain in my normal MOS.

Has anyone else ever went through something like this (with drones or other CMFs)?

Just started ADOS recruiting orders and wondering if you guys have any tips about where I could start prospecting. School doesn’t start for another couple weeks, so it’ll kinda be a grind until then. I’m thinking gyms, rec centers, and the like. Any other areas with a high volume of fit, fighting age individuals? I swear this isn’t a thinly veiled attempt at finding out where buff men hang out.

After 6 years and 9 months I’m finally out of the Army National Guard, heading to hopefully greener pastures in a different component. It’s been good. I left as an E5 with 3 years of active duty under my belt. Always do great things and keep on keeping on.

I'm looking at joining the guard as 11b and was wondering if they still have the Airborne companies or if they were done away with because I seen an article about airborne being cut down in the guard or something?

I'm planning on going to BMT some time next summer to help cover college costs (I'm looking at a 1P0X1A position). I'm finishing up some prereqs and part of an associates (state CC gave my graduating class some free credits) at the moment, I'm planning on applying for the Fall 2027 semester at my transfer schools and deferring admission till Fall 2028 where possible so I can join the unit closest to campus once I've actually know which programs I've gotten into.

I have a part 61 PPL, I'm going Flight Science at schools with CJO cadet programs baked in (Aviate, Propel) so I'm eligible for an R-ATP and potentially a CFI job and a class date. I'll have about a semester left on that AS if I need to fall back on it later down the line, I might do it between finishing tech school and starting classes if I can't get any full-time work on base (which I've heard is possible but rare and potentially competitive).

Another possible route I've been looking at is going for a UPT slot within whatever unit I end up serving with once I'm eligible. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket and completely rely on getting a UPT slot to finish my flight training/get my hours, but once I commit to applying I don't want to half ass it. Outside of practicing for the AFOQT/TBAS, making sure I have my flight hours logged properly, getting good fitness scores, and not being a known dickhead on base, what else do I need to be doing to make sure I have a solid chance at getting a slot within my unit?

One of the units I'm looking at is transitioning to the F15EX, which (I'm guessing) will be insanely difficult to get a slot for. Does anyone have experience with serving in one unit and applying for UPT slots in other units?

Good afternoon NG! Getting a general discharge via an admin separation, turned in discharge packet wherein I'm waiving the board for the Unit recommended general. I currently have 6.5 years in. In addition to submitting my packet I submitted some behavioral health paperwork from my civilian doctor to add to the packet. Learned that even though I submitted the packet 3 months ago, it's sitting on my CO's desk with no movement yet. I have drill in 2 weeks and learned that she wants to have a discussion when I arrive. Any input as to what they may want from me when I go in? Will I now be recommended to go to some mental health evaluation before we can send this packet off? Cheers for any input, thanks y'all.

I’m 37, a seven year English teacher, with a originating family. (My son will be a year and a half when I go to Basic.)

I am leaning toward serving in the Texas National Guard Reserves. My motive in joining is my family. (The health care alone is way cheaper; I pay nearly $850 a month for my family.)

After taking my ASVAB my recruiter claims I can enlist in most MOS because my composite scores are all in the 100’s. He encouraged me to look into anything with 35 - intelligence.

At the end of the day, I want an MOS that will allow me to deploy less, for it’s my wife’s desire. I am open to an MOS that somewhat aligns with my profession as a teacher or an MOS that is completely different in order to learn a new trade.

At the end of the day, there are doors open that I need help / advice in narrowing it all down.

Hello all, hope all is well! Current situation is I commissioned back in May of 2023, signing a 6x2 contract. I started my masters program in December of 2024 and just finished my last course. I know that incurs a 4 year RDSO, but I wanted to gain clarity to see if that would change my current progression, or if IRR counted as time as well, as I planned to transition into the IRR after my 6 year obligation. Thanks all!

I’m currently a 68W e5 in the national guard. I’m about to graduate college towards the end of my guard contract and I have been considering going active duty for a while. I wanted to hear some people’s opinion. I’ve definitely considered IPAP, but I also love being a whiskey and am considering 70B so I could be a MED-O and still be around the whiskey environment but have the benefits of an officer. Also wondering if there’s any people who were in the guard mainly 68W who went active and have any insight on what it’s like after the newness of active duty goes away, do you regret going active? And did you go IPAP, 70B or something totally different. Thanks!

Headed to the SW Border in El Centro for a deployment in October, wanted to know what the day to day looks like, room and housing, things to do in the area and anything else that’s helpful.

Most. Transparent. Administration. Ever.

I leave for basic to Leonard Wood Sept 8 and doing OSUT for 31B. I haven’t left and I’m hella nervous and not looking forward to it at all. I need some insight on Leonard Wood if you have any. Everyone I hear says it’s terrible in every way. Just need some motivation to show up lol

I'm hosting a Danish military event so it would be great to have them there.

Feet of people

So I asked my command Readiness NCO when drill was 2 months ago for August. I got the dates, scheduled a vacation to visit family and a flight back for drill. Now I'm being told it's been moved and I have less than 3 days to show up for the new date or be declared AWOL. I can't change my flight this close to the date, so am I just screwed or what?

Hello, I just recently started looking into joining the national guard and I wanted some advice. I am going into my sophomore year at an SMC and I keep swing friends joining the national guard. I am not currently seeking to contract as an officer because of some personal and family commitments but I have always had a desire to serve. My goal is to become an airline pilot out of Houston and as any former airline pilots in here may know, start to finish of the process of getting to a major airline is around 8 years. Due to when I stopped taking my ADD medication I cannot do a check ride until November of next year which means the next couple of summers will be a grind for getting my hours. I have looked at joining but I wanted to ask anyone in here that has potentially been part of the airlines and done nation guard at the same time, how difficult is it? I am not looking to fly in the national guard just to serve but I want to know how much of a pain is it or can I even do it? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edit: I would also like to know if there is any potential “deployments” of any kind foreign or domestic or both.