Thankful: Military Heroes by Joseph McGowan, former student, Intern and Program Director

I Got this out of the TeenPact Newsletter,


Thankful: Military Heroes by Joseph McGowan, former student, Intern and Program Director

The sun sat high in the sky unchallenged by even the slightest hint of a cloud. It was hot, but not to the point that I was sweating. The concrete rooftop I was lying on was warm, and through my gloved hands, I could only imagine how hot the metal on my rifle was. Helicopters flew low overhead, watching the market place that my perch put me right above. Soldiers mingled with the Iraqi people below and down the road, big, green, armored vehicles sat defiantly in the road, daring someone to make a move. I squinted as I put the scope of my rifle up to my face to scan the area around those vehicles, watching for any sudden movement of a person getting ready to attack. The steady murmur of people and vehicles was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Within seconds, crowds of screaming people were running for cover as the heavy machine guns on our vehicles drowned out the smaller reports of the infantryman's rifles. I could see what they were firing at, but my job wasn't to engage targets already being taken care of. My commander crackled over the radio, saying my call sign, asking for a report on what was going on. I picked up the radio, shouting out commands to my team stationed just below me. I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart and tried to speak confidently and clearly into the radio, my voice wavering slightly as the adrenaline and fear gripped my tongue. But this was important. I paused for second, and then spoke again in a confident clear voice. I had a job to do.This was one day of many like it during my recent tour in Iraq. But I wasn't always like this, taking charge, confidently speaking to my superiors. No, a few years ago I was a shy and quiet fifteen-year-old boy walking hesitantly into my capital's rotunda, ready to start my first day of my first TeenPact class. I wore braces, and glasses, thought I was too skinny, and knew that I wasn't the most graceful swan in the lake. Basically, I lacked confidence as many of us do in our early teenage years. But that day was the first day of five years being involved with TeenPact (2001-2006). I attended as a student and eventually worked for TeenPact as a program director for two years. But how does TeenPact relate to combat?
L to R: Joseph in Iraq (2008-2009, Joseph as Program Director (2005-2006), Joseph as an Intern (2004)It relates through me. Right after I was done working for TeenPact I began taking college classes online and enlisted into the Army National Guard. Here I worked hard and made it to the rank of sergeant, and was given a sniper team under my command. When I left TeenPact, I took with me years of growth, development, and an innate curiosity to learn and a desire for excellence. God used TeenPact to develop skills in me that He knew I needed in the next chapter of my life. During my days in TeenPact, I was put in charge of groups of young adults, sometimes counseling them with problems they were having, was required to speak in public, interacted with everyone from siblings of students to high ranking government officials, had to make decisions quickly, and personify confidence no matter what, even if I didn't feel it all the time. While the streets of Iraq were far from the marble and granite halls of the average state capital building, the skills developed through TeenPact were still very much applicable. Here I was, in charge of a team of people, in charge of their welfare and even counseling them about problems they were having, had to give briefings in front of groups of people, interacted with everyone from Iraqi children to high-ranking army officers, was looked at to make decisions quickly, and personify confidence in every situation regardless how I felt at the time. I had traded a suit and tie for body armor and boots, had traded a schedule and ballpoint pen for a rifle and a pistol, and traded the stresses of leading a class for the stresses of leading men into combat. But still the skills remained the same. That first day of my first TeenPact class, if you told me that I would be leading them in a couple of years, I would have said that you were crazy. And I would have said something similar if you had told me that I would one day be a sniper team leader in Iraq. But God knows what He is doing and places us in situations so that we can learn, be stretched, and grow preparing us for what He has next. He is going to give you the opportunities. It is up to you to take a step of faith. You never know where your journey is going to take you. Where God is going to take you.

Hope you enjoyed this, Comments please.
Zach, Formerly Officer Phillips

ALL THE WAY

STORM-E

STORM-E got her warpaint on...

First Officer Stansbury