Off the football field, soldier makes it in Afghanistan

Photo By Sgt. John Ortiz | Corpus Christi, Texas native Spc. Curt Jones grinds down any sharp jagged edges before painting and rust proofing his fabrication. Jones was promoted from private first class to specialist on Oct. 16. Jones thanked his section for what they taught him. “I am fortunate to learn from the very best, because at the end of the day, my section the Service and Recovery Section is a family and we all take care of each other.”  

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, AFGHANISTAN

11.16.2011

Story by Sgt. John Ortiz 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, Afghanistan – For Corpus Christi, Texas native Curt Jones, life simply isn’t about football games and glory, because at the end of the day, he needed to care for his wife and new born daughter.

“I was playing football in college, and it wasn’t taking care of my family and paying the bills,” said Jones. “I didn’t have any job skills; I didn’t know how to do anything but play football. You have to know something to get ahead in life, and I thought the Army would be a great place to learn welding and mechanic work.”

Jones graduated from high school in 2003 and immediately went to play football at the University of North Texas at Denton. After one season, he decided North Texas wasn’t for him and moved back home. He enrolled in a junior college and later at Texas A&M – Kingsville where he continued to play football.

After getting hurt and walking around campus on crutches, Jones met the woman who would become his future wife. “One day I was struggling to pick up my books and Ana Maria offered to help and then she walked me to class.” She soon graduated with a degree in Business. Combined with the birth of his daughter, Jones decided to enlist in the Army.

Wanting to learn a trade that would transfer into a skill that can be used in the civilian world, Jones decided to enlist into the 91B MOS, known as an all wheel mechanic.

“What made me choose my job was the fact that diesel mechanics earn a pretty good living on the outside and I wanted to learn that. I didn’t have anyone to teach me, so I chose to go into the mechanic field,” said Jones.

Once Jones graduated from boot camp and his initial mechanic training, he moved his family to El Paso and was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas.

While in processing at the brigade, Jones was sent to Bravo Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion as a mechanic in the Service and Recovery section.

“Once I joined the Army and my unit, I learned more than I ever thought I would and really it exceeded all my expectations. I love what I do, because I never thought I would get to work with [welding and metal fabrication],” he said. “But every now and then, I get to do a little bit of mechanic work.”

Jones credits his job with giving him the adrenaline rush that football did, because “it’s never the same job all the time. I can go out on convoys into the unknown. I don’t know, we don’t know what can happen and it either can go one way or it can go completely in the other way. That’s what keeps me going.”

Jones is currently deployed to Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“This if my first deployment and I thought it was going to be a lot worse,” said Jones. “Just listening to people telling stories of when they deployed, I just knew it was going to be bad. But once I got here, got into a routine, everything turned out OK; it’s not that bad.”

As a weight lifter and personal trainer, Jones looks toward those nights where he can pump iron to release stress and develop his body. “Working out truly gives me the escape from what is going on over here. It’s my ‘me’ time and allows me to get away.”

However there are times when Jones and others on patrol or convoys cannot get away. It is at that moment in time their training kicks in.

“We always complain as mechanics of why are we doing this infantry training, we will never use this stuff,” he says. “But I got into a situation on my second convoy and my training automatically kicked in.

He reacted to the sound of gunfire while looking over a vehicle that broke down. “I immediately got down to one knee and started scanning.” Jones simply said, “I did all that without thinking twice.”

“I was like wow, this really works. It’s almost like a natural reaction, because you go through the training and motions so many times; you know what to do automatically,” he said.

After three months in Afghanistan and three years in the Army,
Jones, with a laugh, says “I’m going to do the whole 20.” His reasoning is simple. “If you look at what we do and the profession of the Army and the respect, there is simply no other thing like this in the world.” Asking, “What am I going to do when I get out, I can be a welder or a construction worker, but you know what, I can do that in the Army and get immense job satisfaction.”

Jones was promoted from private first class to specialist on Oct. 16, Jones thanked his section for what they taught him. “I am fortunate to learn from the very best, because at the end of the day, my section the Service and Recovery Section is a family and we all take care of each other.”

• Date Taken: 11.16.2011
• Date Posted: 11.18.2011 13:29
• Story ID: 80227
• Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, AF