Been lurking here for a while now, decided to finally sign up and what better forum to do it than this.
I spent 27 years between the active and reserve components of the Army, retiring from the Reserves in 2010.
My MOS's were:
35H - Calibration Specialist (I've actually calibrated an LCSS!)
35G - Biomedical Equipment Specialist (Basic)
35U - Biomedical Equipment Specialist (Advanced)
I also went to Drill Sergeant School and ended up training my first cycle of joes in the EXACT SAME barracks and orderly room that I had attended Basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood years earlier.
Then came my firearms related career.
After graduating from Trinidad State's Gunsmithing program I was recruited by the US Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) as a "custom equipment technician", a fancy name for gunsmith. From 1993 to 2000 I built and maintained the finest in competetive guns, from M14's to Perazzi shotguns. What an apprenticeship for a gunsmith!
Of course the grass is ALWAYS greener...so I decided to ETS and go to college. I stayed in the Reserves and joined the Small Arms Readiness Group (SARG), a unit that provided weapons training to Army Reserve units.
Then September 11, 2001 happened.
I dropped out of college and went on active duty to support the war effort. By this time I was already broke-dick and non-deployable, but wanted to do what I could. So I spent the next seven years training deploying soldiers on any and all small arms they may have to deal with while deployed, including the foreign weapons they may encounter. We did specialized classes for designated marksmen and snipers (marksmanship ONLY, we were not sniper instructors).
God bless all those that have served, in whatever capacity.
Sorry for the long post, I'll learn to edit myself eventually.
