12/18/2021
“This We’ll Defend.” For the last 2 years I’ve had the honor of commanding the Suffolk Recruiting Company. The Company is responsible for finding and processing Qualified Applicants for Enlistment and various commissioning programs into the US Army.
Just prior to the start of the COVID pandemic I felt like I had the flu for about a month and then one day I looked in the mirror and saw what looked like 3 golf balls sticking out just above my collarbone. Better get that checked out. Turns out it was Classic Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Stage II. I had just turned 33, my wife, was pregnant with our second son, the world was about to be locked down, and I had 4 surgical procedures, 8 chemo infusions, 3 weeks of daily radiation treatments, and almost fatal blood clots ahead of me.
Thank goodness I’m in the US Army. I had Leaders and Subordinates to check up on me, I continued to get paid throughout my treatment and COVID lockdowns, I haven’t paid a dime in medical bills, and my job was waiting for me when I was well enough to come back to it.
In recruiting we often pitch the benefits of Army Service, the big security blanket that’s gets wrapped around us and our families, free college, free healthcare, maybe an enlistment bonus, but there’s something else even more important the Army gives you.
It trains you to be able to do and endure hard things.
Right now Soldiers are carrying at least half their body weight in weapons and equipment in all sorts of terrain. They’re sitting for hours in full gear waiting to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. When the next natural disaster hits, Soldiers will spend all night planning and prepping their equipment to respond ASAP, even if it’s halfway across the world.
They keep going and if they can’t, their Battle Buddy literally picks them up.
It was a real honor and pleasure to lead the Suffolk Spy Ring and if you’re ready to learn how to do hard things send these Soldiers a DM.