CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Soldiers join the National Guard for many different reasons. Some are seeking the adventure and experience, some are looking for career opportunities and school benefits, and some soldiers simply want to serve their country.
At some point in a soldier’s enlistment, he or she will be asked, are you going to re-enlist? Enlistment contracts for the National Guard often are an eight-year obligation with four or six years of active drilling service. Some soldiers leave the Army, and others decide to take the opportunities they’ve been offered and make a career.
Sgt. Brittany Grams, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 34th Combat Aviation Brigade medical noncommissioned officer, and Spc. Freddie Williams IV, HHC 34th CAB human resource specialist, are making careers, and the transition from enlisted soldier to officer.
Grams enlisted in 2010 during her senior year of high school.
“I really felt like I was a person capable of doing it,” she said about joining the Guard. She felt the need to do something bigger than herself and serve her country.
After four years of service, Grams wasn’t sure what career direction she should go, she said. She didn’t think she was capable of becoming a warrant officer UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, but after talking to the 34th CAB command sergeant major during her deployment to Kuwait, she decided to try.
She submitted her packet for flight school and was accepted. Grams will first attend Warrant Officer Candidate School, and then she’ll go to Fort Rucker, Alabama, to attend flight school. All of the training, including WOCS, will be approximately two years long.
Williams is taking a different path. He is preparing an application to the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Army’s service academy to become a commissioned officer.
He decided to take this opportunity after a few officers in the 34th CAB told him he should apply, he said. He wants to make the Army a better place for soldiers.
“I’m the fourth [person] with my name to wear this uniform,” Williams said. He comes from a family of service. Everyone should take the opportunity to serve in any way they can, whether that is through the military or civil service, he said.
Grams and Williams plan to stay in the Minnesota National Guard.
Grams plans to finish her bachelor’s degree in nursing at St. Cloud State University.
Williams’ goal is to attain a real estate license to run his own real estate business.
“See what you want, find the path to get you there, and run,” Williams said.
| Date Taken: | 03.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2015 06:55 |
| Story ID: | 156738 |
| Location: | CAMP BUEHRING, KW |
| Hometown: | MINNEAPOLIS, MN, US |
| Web Views: | 545 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Young soldiers, big plans, by SGT Sebastian Nemec, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT