Who had the greatest impact on your life? Why were they so effective at influencing you in a positive way?

SGT Garcia. I haven't had the blessing of being around a lot of great influential people in my Army career, But SGT Garcia made an impact.

He was a PFC when we first met. He had gotten in trouble and been knocked down from E-4, wasn't afraid to admit it and wanted to show us how to come back from mistakes. He became my first line within a year and led from the front. He taught me hard work, discipline, professionalism, and basic soldier skills. He gave a damn about me, kept his word, and followed up on his actions and plans.

Culturally, he grew up in Mexico and had a rich heritage of honor and respect in relationships. I admired this. He motivated me to be better at my level and care about others on my left and right. I think what made him unique was how he handled and issued tasks. He would tell us "If I'm working harder than you, you're wrong". Then, he would bust his ass making it hard for us to keep up; it earned our loyalty.

Also, he actually counseled us every month (DA 4856) and I benefited from this greatly. Only NCO I had who was consistent with it.

My drill sgt, SSG Ricky Bonnell. Army Ranger who became a drill sgt. He taught me a lot about exceeding your expectations and “being all that you can be.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention John Wayne also.

SSG(P) (Join to see) There are more than just one that has influenced my life. First, my Father, Tough as Nails Korean War Veteran and Purple Heart Recipient (Died 7 Oct 2016 at 85) - taught me to be tough as hell when it was needed, secondly COL (Ret) John P. Edwards, former Commander of the 357th Aviation Detachment, mentor, coach, and friend for life who inspired me to go from enlisted to Officer culminating in a 37 year career and retirement as a Full Bird Colonel, my Mother, 83 and still going strong (I'm her fulltime caretaker now) - tough, but fair lady, Third, my Eighth Grade Teacher, Mrs Griffin who told my Mother that wouldn't amount to anything in life (Guest a fool her), and finally my Varsity Football coach back in high school who grabbed me by the helmet my freshman year during hell week (I was 5'2" and weighed 130 pounds), and he said, "You'll never play varsity ball here, you're too small." I played varsity my sophomore, Junior, and Senior years, All Conference, 1st Team Defensive Back, Honroable Mention in the State, and finished at 195 pounds 5'9" and was recruited and offered a scholarship to play Junior College Football at Eureka College in Illinois. Great post Brent!