Looking back over the course of my military career, there were certain key moments that will stay with me forever. One of the early moments in my career were the events on September 11, 2001. I had just finished a five day rotation, which had led to a first of two days off on September 11.

During this timeframe, I had pretty much completed my first term obligation in the United States Air Force and had to decided to separate from the military with the next couple of months. Much of that time was about securing a great job with a great employer and planning on where I was to begin re-inserting myself into civilian life. Its always interesting how an event can take you way off of your charted course.

Japan is like 15 hours ahead of US time, at least by Las Vegas, Nevada time...my home a record. I can recall being awaken the evening of September 11 by a co-worker named D. Bomgardner. who had called me from our work center. His first words were, "You aren't going to be able to get out of the military, Bro!". I am still half asleep at this time and I inquire as to what he was talking about. He said it again. My response was something like where did this decision come from. He was like turn on your TV. So while on the telephone with Bomgardner I proceed to turn on my TV. Bomgardner was like, "Turn to channel such and such." I believe my TV was already on the correct channel. Living in the dormitories in Misawa, Japan as an Airman during that timeframe, cable television meant you had 2-3 channels which came in clearly.

Still waking up, I watch on my television as an airplane hits a building in what looks like a U.S. city. Bomgardner was like, "We've been attacked and going to war!". I'm awake at this point, but I'm in disbelief....thinking that what I saw was not real. As I am watching, I see another plane hit another tall structure. There was silence at this point and Bomgardner mentioned he was getting a work related call. He mentioned that I may want to get my uniform and such on as there was most likely going to be an organizational recall within the next hour.

I believe the next call I got was from my family in Las Vegas...sharing the news of the attack. I just remember a ton of thoughts going through my mind ranging from selfishness to mental preparedness.

I can remember one of the early reports that came out was a stop-loss report which listed the job roles which not be able to separate or retire due to the current situation. Now that was settled there was that thought of who will really see action and seeing how I was in the InfoTech career field, I really wasn't certain because I wasn't really sure how much damage the US had sustained besides the towers or if we would be attacked next. You know...you see movies like Red Dawn and you pray that a situation such as that is not what you are in for.

Our work center did initiate a recall, and there wasn't alot of chatter as we kept abreast of the latest news. The base went into total lockdown with curfews and such. The base posture was eventually relaxed in phases.

Seeing how I was stop-lossed for several months, I ended up extending my assignment in Misawa, Japan and also got married. What was to be a little over 4 year committment turn into retirement in November 2017.