Most Humbling, Proud, Embarrassing, or Memorable Experience.

CPT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 22:00:04 -0400

My most humbling experience in my Army Career has been when I transferred from the Iowa National Guard to Active Duty Service following my commission. I started as an E-1 and progressed to an E-5 in the National Guard. I was than reassigned from Team Leader to Platoon Leader in the longstanding absence of a Lieutenant. My commander assigned me this task because of my knowledge of Engineer Doctrine and my potential to be an Officer.
It was a very strange experience at first and it was even stranger to those outside of our unit. I was an E-5 now giving orders to an E-7 and to my previous Squad Leaders. Through hard work, dedication, professionalism, and competence I quickly earned their trust and respect. I always listened to my NCO’s first, sought their advice, and then made the decisions for the platoon.
I had my share of embarrassing experiences as well, as I further developed my leadership skills and adjusted to being an officer. My First Sergeant, who took a very strong interest in my development, always challenged me. He was very relentless and always the first to address my mistakes. In hindsight he was one of my greatest mentors.
During my final drill in the National Guard my First Sergeant had me post at the front of the Company formation. He then spoke of my accomplishments, my dedication to the company, and of my development from an E-1 to E-5 and finally to an O-1. I was presented with an Army Achievement Medal and the entire company saluted me. Then everyone lined, shook my hand, and wished me luck in Active Duty. It was a very humbling experience to have the respect and admiration of all the NCO’s and soldiers in the unit. I was even to better to have earned the respect and admiration of my First Sergeant, who had challenged, mentored, and developed me into the leader I am today.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2014 6:49 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 06:49:20 -0400

Sir,

That is an amazing story! Accepting that Platoon Leader assignment as a Sergeant took a lot of courage. It just goes to show that hard work and perseverance pay off, most of the time.

My most humbling experience has been spending some months in Air Assault PT trying to pass the prerequisite obstacles, while everyone else whizzed through the course with ease. I never did pass, so I chose to PCS. Never felt like such a failure in my life.

Response by CW4 William Van Almsick made Oct 20 at 2014 2:22 PM

CW4 William Van Almsick — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:22:31 -0400

Flying the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Dan Rather from 60 Minutes for a segment being filmed at Ft. Campbell. As I started the helicopter, I thought to myself, "Lord, don't let me screw this up because everyone in the world would see it."

As a Task Force Standardization Officer, bringing all or our troops home safely without a single aviation accident. The first Task Force to accomplish that feat in the 8 years that the rotations had been happening.

Having my Mom and Dad in the audience as I graduated from Flight School.

As a Company Standardizations Officer, watching all of our company pilots perform combat operations without being watched-over like a hawk, thusly being able to bring everyone home safe and sound.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 20 at 2014 2:37 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:37:36 -0400

Great story, CPT(P) Private RallyPoint Member. I can imagine the feelings you must have felt when the 1SG called you to the front of the company to recognize you and present you that award.

My proudest moment in the Army - at least along these lines - is when I won 82d Airborne Division Trooper of the Month (April 1977). I was presented the awards for that accomplishment at a battalion formation. Winning the competitions to get to the division level board and then winning the division board were quite the thing for young SP4 Montgomery.

Response by SPC David S. made Oct 21 at 2014 12:03 AM

SPC David S. — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 00:03:49 -0400

Proudest would be my appointment to the Air Force Academy.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 9 at 2015 8:54 PM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:54:01 -0500

My proudest moment in the Navy was qualifying Submarines, because I had to work hard to get it done after being black-balled by the Chief of the Boat (the enlistedmen aboard were expressly forbidden from giving me check-outs on my quals, so I had to work with the officers to get things done). This was quickly followed by my memorable moment when I turned to the COB and told him, very sarcastically, "Thanks for all of your help, COB."

As I was walking away from the formation after being dismissed, I turned to my buddy and said "These Dolphins are something they can never take away from me!" and was quickly met with my most embarrassing moment when the YN3 came up to me and said "Hey, we need those Dolphins back for tomorrow's ceremony. You need to go to the exchange at lunch and get some Fish because no one in your division got you any."

THANKFULLY things turned around at my next command.

Response by MAJ Raúl Rovira made Jan 10 at 2015 2:49 AM

MAJ Raúl Rovira — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 02:49:06 -0500

Memorable Experience - Working at the US Embassy in Cairo during the 2013 revolution. To stand at the balcony outside the Ambassador's floor and feel the country's energy. That I will never forget.

Proud - I'm just proud to serve.

Humbling - Serving as Cadre for a WTB. "Improving the lives of every Soldier"

Embarrassing - I have some many but I'll throw a tanker one. So there I was... on my tank in Korea. My brilliant plan of platoon maneuver so we would not be seen (despite the really loud engine) was to follow the river which was shallow.

Well, not shallow everywhere. All the sudden there was a fall like an air pocket when in commercial flights. Since we were on Open-Protected I could not stick my head out. I looked through the 50 Cal sight and noticed a lot of water splashing. At the same time my gunner stops scanning on his gunner's sight and said to me, "LT... am... we are under water"

I ask the driver, "Driver! are you good?" All I hear is "mm... mmm... MMMM!!!" I told him slow down and hard right.

We came out, all is fine and the engine did not choke. There was no way to tell how deep we were. Fast forward to recovery after the field exercise. The Driver, Loader and Gunner are smiling and they ask me if I knew how deep we were under water. Of course I don't.

So they show me the pre-cleaner and there is fish in it. In fact 3. We all got some good laughs from it.

My go away plac reads "FRAGO: Dive! Dive! Dive!"

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 21 at 2015 10:51 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 10:51:13 -0400

Embarrassing. Apparently yesterday my 11 year old daughter was embarrassed for me as I tried to keep up with her riding her brother's bike on the bike path. My oldest son was riding my bike so I took his bike which was in no way intended for a person of my size to ride. The seat kept falling down when I adjusted it and it has no gears so I was huffing & puffing trying to stay with her. Got to admit it was pretty damn funny. I told her sometimes as an adult its OK to embarrass yourself for the benefit of your kids. This was not by far the first time I've done it!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 21 at 2015 1:39 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 13:39:38 -0400

Congratulations on your career development.

Response by LtCol Robert Quinter made Dec 25 at 2015 9:08 PM

LtCol Robert Quinter — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 21:08:06 -0500

Not humbling, Marines don't deal in humble,:), but certainly one of the most memorable. One night in VN I was the duty medevac pilot. At about 2300 we got an emergency mission and launched to recover a Marine who had been wounded when the village they were assigned to as a Civil Action Team was overrun. The ville was about 15 minutes away, but as soon as we lifted off the runway in Danang, we could see it burning in the distance. By the time we got overhead, the number of casualties had increased to 3. The Marines had consolidated in a defensive position on a one lane wooden bridge that was about 150 to 250 feet long. They had the wounded men on the bridge. On our first approach we got shot out of the zone by heavy small arms, machine gun and mortar fire, but made an immediate go around and made the pick up. By the time we cleared the zone, we started receiving additional missions to pick up Marines, Popular Forces and civilian casualties from the same site. Long story short, we ended up making 5 trips back to the same bridge and evacuated over 100 people by the time the night was over and the crews relieving us took the mission.
Of course, that night sticks in my mind, but the most unforgettable portion takes a little time. We had filled all the hospital beds in DaNang on the first four pick ups and ended took our last load of casualties to the hospital ship in DaNang harbor (I believe it was the Repose). Sitting on the ship's pad, I saw one of my gunners carrying a Vietnamese infant over to a group of sailors standing by the pad. He handed the baby to one of the sailors and got back aboard my aircraft.
Fast forward about 8 years. I flew a TA4 out of New Orleans to NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach. We had been invited to dinner at a Navy officer's home in the area and had a great evening. Over coffee, we started talking about our VN experiences and established that our host had been there during the same period I was there. He mentioned his most memorable experience had been as a surgeon aboard the Repose. He had heard there was a big battle and a helicopter was inbound with casualties, so he went up to the flight deck to see what was going on. While standing there, a crewman from the helicopter came out and handed him an infant that had been burned during the battle.

Response by SPC Elizabeth DeCamp made May 15 at 2016 1:39 PM

SPC Elizabeth DeCamp — Sun, 15 May 2016 13:39:45 -0400

One time my neighbor came to visit me at the admin building in Ft Polk. She had her 8-year-old son Brian with her. Brian had found some old captain's bars and put them on his little blue baseball cap the same way a real captain would.
A crusty old full bird walked out of the building. He thought Brian looked so cute with the "captain's hat". Brian said "I know how much captains make". To which the colonel asked "How much, son?" "Three dollars a week." The colonel bent down and whispered "You know what, son? That's all they're worth!"

Response by MSG Jay Jackson made Dec 14 at 2016 2:32 PM

MSG Jay Jackson — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:32:40 -0500

I had a memorable experience once. In 1991 I was a young buck sergeant fresh from Desert Storm. Having barely survived the ground war I was in the PX after pay day activities when I was stopped by a captain and his first shirt. They had noticed my PH and the ordnance insignia on my uniform and were convinced I was a true PX soldier. I was escorted to my company when the HR person gladly showed them my orders and asked if they would like a copy. I carried a copy from that day on till I retired.

Response by PO3 Brad Barnes made Dec 23 at 2019 10:28 PM

PO3 Brad Barnes — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 22:28:25 -0500

Being young and dumb and full of.... Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, the night before loading out the missile mag for an upcoming deployment.... I drank WAAAY too much. Some very kind (and strong) marines carried my passed out 6'4" 210 lb carcass onto the ship, where given permission to come aboard, and put me in my rack. How I came by this knowledge is another story for another time. I don't embarrass easily, Humble pie is best served luke warm, I'll never forget waking up the next day for muster, on time, hungover amid the chuckles of my shipmates, and I am damn sure not too proud to say a big THANKS MARINES! I still owe ya one.

Response by SPC Nancy Greene made Sep 12 at 2020 10:41 PM

SPC Nancy Greene — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 22:41:09 -0400

That’s an awesome share CPT(P) Private RallyPoint Member .

My experience was more humiliatingly humble. It was the morning of AIT graduation. We had all been to the E Club the night before. It was a 0730 formation in Class B’s. I had on pants and we were in formation at parade rest. We were being given the brief of the schedule of events for the day. The sun was shining directly upon me and I was extremely hung over (as were most of the platoon). When called to attention to be dismissed, I passed out and bit the concrete. My squad leader (SGT) proceeded to team me fir ‘locking’ my knees. The CO (CPT) helped me up and sat me on a curb. As he bent down, he whispered in my ear: “when is the last time you ate anything?” It seems a bowl of soup Friday lunch was the last food I had consumed and the combination of n food, medications for my injury, and the hangover caused me to pass out. I had a good CO and he got the SGT in check real quick. He also ‘ordered’ me to go to the bowling alley for breakfast and would be checking as he was headed there fir breakfast too.
Back in those days ‘weight control’ was a constant source of harassment, so I was always skipping meals (lost 10 pounds in Basic and 10 in AIT which put me 10 pounds under my max weight, until I went home on leave...)

Response by Maj John Bell made Sep 13 at 2020 2:39 AM

Maj John Bell — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 02:39:29 -0400

I never saw combat. But after I left the Marines I got a letter from I got a letter from a GySgt who had been a PFC 0331 (Machine Gunner) in a weapons platoon I led. We ran gun drill tirelessly for crew-served weapons when I had the platoon. If you fired the weapon Rambo style you owed me three miles. If you fired from the bipod you owed me one mile. From the tripod with a T&E was they way we employed our M-60's. He hated gun drill and he hated me.

He was in Afghanistan now. He had run gun drill tirelessly when he became the Weapons PltSgt. One of his gun squads got hit hard by an IED in an ambush, no dead but only two ammo men from one team in the gun squad were combat effective. It was still automatic for him, he and the two ammo men put one gun into action quickly and were able to suppress a Taliban machine gun that would have otherwise ruined the patrol's day.

Exact words. "Thanks for being such a prick, I told some Marines your name, and that they were alive because of you." I wanted to pass it on to the Battalion CWO Gunner who told me how to train gun teams, but he was dead of lung cancer years ago. So I forwarded the letter to his daughter.