I joined the Army at the age of 18, knowing that I wanted to join the Airborne Infantry when I enlisted. I started out as Army National Guard before quickly figuring out that I wanted to go active duty. Upon my transfer to active duty
Army, I attended Special Forces Selection and Assessment, and SFQC. I eventually would leave that course and be stationed with 4/25 Infantry at JBER, AK. I was recruited from my battalion to join the Scout Surveillance and Reconnaissance platoon for 3/509th Infantry, which is where I spent most of my 7 years in the Army. With my scout platoon, I was blessed enough to do a lot of awesome things, including sniper training and mountain warfare school.
In July 2015, as part of a joint training exercise, my unit jumped into Queensland, Australia with Australian forces. Due to high winds, and some bad luck, I suffered a parachute collapse, resulting in me falling 40 feet to the ground. I suffered broken hip, broken R femur, and R knee. I was airlifted to a nearby civilian hospital, and incurred surgery to reconstruct the damage. When I returned to Alaska, 3 weeks later, I began my 18 months of physical therapy and rehab. Towards the end of my therapy, I was told that I was no longer physically capable of being a soldier anymore, and that I would be medically retired. I was retired February 10th, 2017.
I moved to Denton to attend school, with my wife and my dog, after my retirement in early 2017. I still go to the gym and try to push myself as hard as I can every day. My gym days tend to be a lot more upper-body work than lower body work, as I still deal with some pain from my previous injuries. I found out about ATF from an ATF alumni, Ryan Zimmerer, who encouraged me to apply. I am beyond excited to meet and put in work with everyone in the upcoming months.
