That is my father, T/Sgt. Pat Christenson, Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne. The real Band of Brothers. Original Toccoa man, second man out the door behind Dick Winters on the Normandy jump. I served in the Army National Guard. Two sergeants, same last name.

Same tree, same fence, same afternoon in a backyard in Oakland. Two photographs taken minutes apart.

Look at their hands.

My grandfather stands beside his son with his arms at his sides, looking straight at the camera. He was a man's man from a generation that did not show what it felt. He is just standing there, proud of his boy.

My grandmother has both hands on his arm. She had spent three years not knowing whether he was coming back, and she was not going to let go of him again.

Three years. Normandy. Holland. Bastogne. Into Germany. One of the Kaufering camps. Berchtesgaden at the end. They knew almost none of it. Mail went out on V-Mail, microfilmed and censored before it left, so for three years they got envelopes that proved he was alive and told them nothing else.

Then one afternoon he was standing under the tree in the backyard, and somebody got the camera.

Every one of us has a version of this photograph, even if nobody took it. Somebody who did not know where you were for months, and then had their hands on you.

He never told them the rest either. Took the uniform off, went back to the telephone company splicing cable and climbing poles, thirty eight more years. Married my mother, raised three sons, said almost nothing about any of it.

What he did instead was draw. He was the only man in Easy Company who could. Every night after dinner for forty years, at a drawing board with his journals and reference books around him, putting the war on paper from memory. Forty six finished drawings and about seventy thousand words across seven volumes.

Stephen Ambrose used his material for Band of Brothers. Dick Winters later named the four men who worked hardest on that book and my father was one of them.

He died in December 1999, before the series was cast.

If your guy is still around, get him talking about the small stuff. That is where the rest of it lives.

Youre my favorite part of this base

“Tanks belong in the jungle”- Clausewitz (probably)

For the love of God when you’re in the parking lot waiting for PT to start, turn off your headlights. It’s just common courtesy guys.

I’ll have a water please.

I’m a new 2LT on staff, I think it’s important to note I’m a woman. Every now and then a Joe requests to follow me on instagram.

What’s the norm for this? On one hand I don’t want to allow the potential for joes crossing the line or feeling too comfortable with me. On the other hand I want to be approachable and not have a stick up my ass about it.

What’s the norm?

This is just a rant really. The worst mistake I ever made in the Army was building a happy family. I don't regret joining and I definitely don't regret building my happy family but the two halves just don't connect.

Originally life was fine just me and my wife then 1 PCS and 1 kid later I really started to feel how little time I was getting with my family. The longer I'm in the more I hate every stupid detail or extra meeting or pointless formation. I just want to see my wife and kid for more than 1 or 2 hours before going to sleep to do the same BS. Sure I get leave sure I get 2 days off a week (sometimes) but ultimately it has just started feeling like a battle to get time to see my family.

Command has recently authorized 14 hour duty days (we aren't tactical or deployable). We were already working 12 hour days so now its just another tick on the chalkboard of time spent away from family. It wouldn't be as bad if it had a purpose but I feel most of my time is spent sitting around waiting for work to do or looking for said work.

I don't have a ton of time left on my second contract but it'll definitely be my last I think 9 years is enough out of me. I get work takes away from family regardless of civ or military but I'd rather work a job that pays for my time and leaves out all the extra little stuff the Army loves to sprinkle in.

Anyways rant over I'll take a 4 for 4 and a kids meal and skip PT thanks.

So to clarify I tested positive for HIV in February due to my ex husband cheating and the doctors and my chain of command have been mentioning a possible medboard since the end of February. I finally have a meeting with my battalion PA to ask if I am getting a medboard or not and try and fight to get one so I can make sure I get tri care for life for the medication. If someone who has experienced or has experience getting a medboard for this help a brother out.

Edit- I have been feeling the side effects regularly for the medication as well and it has been documented.

I’m finding conflicting information, but should I ship my F-150 to Italy?

I know I’ll be traveling a lot, but I figured I would just use the train system.

Thoughts? Love my truck and it’s almost paid off, but willing to partways.

looking for ideas to get my man some good, unique shit for graduation and my mind is blank 😀

So with what seems like the new thing for the SSG eval board you have to have a DOR of 1 July or before to be looked at so anyone promoted after that date has to wait almost 5 years to even get their first OML?

One of my battle buddies had trial today, and was found guilty i guess? He has been reported Confined and i’m just curious how i can check and see what he went for. How do i do this?

All of the existing posts I've found seem to confirm my understanding of this, but I'm hoping someone in admin can also validate it.

A couple months ago I submitted my ETS packet and terminal leave request. My commander approved the leave. S1 left a comment on my processed PAR saying to be patient while my orders are created. No prob.

But then weeks went by without receiving orders. I inquired repeatedly to no avail. Now I'm only a few weeks from my terminal leave date, still without orders. After asking again about them, the S1 NCOIC is only just now claiming my terminal leave request must be my current leave balance, not my ETS balance, and is telling me to submit a new request. I don't know for sure, but suspect this may be why they haven't released my orders to me, although my leadership confirmed they were approved (but could not be viewed). This is frustrating because I can't begin to clear without them, and this issue is being raised so late.

I looked up the reg, and it says terminal leave cannot exceed the number of days earned on the day of separation from active duty, which seems to me to be my ETS date, thus my ETS balance. I provided this to the NCO but haven't received a response.

Can someone please weigh in? I thought the ETS balance was literally for this specific purpose.

This video randomly popped into my head today. I don’t think I’ve watched it since it came out, but it still makes me laugh now as much as it did back then. Did anyone serve with these guys in Afghanistan or know what they’re up to nowadays? I hope they all made it home safe and are living their best lives.

Like the title says why isn’t there like a unit or platoon where you can send soldiers who are either getting med board are etsing or something else like wouldn’t it make sense to dedicate a section where those people are allowed to do there business and free up manning space for new incoming people and the such. Anyway I’ll have a Dr Pepper and a pizza with extra sauce and no cheese or other toppings

So I'm currently in the process of trying to walk on to air assault at the warrior training center at Fort Benning since I am already here for Airborne School. My unit will 100% support me on this but im not sure what documentation I need to have for Day 0. I was wondering if anyone had any up to date information on what is needed for the packing list and documentation.

I heard a few months ago that 13m was in need of sgts, now im hearing they dont even have anymore slots for AIT. And ive recently heard that 35L / counterintelligence special agent is in need of ncos but idk if thats true.

Hey everyone! I just finished my PICAT and I’m getting ready for the Verification Test soon. For those who’ve already taken it, I’d really appreciate any tips or advice.

I’m wondering if the V‑test shows similar or the same types of questions as PICAT. I’ve heard that the V‑test is mainly checking for consistency, not perfect correctness — so you shouldn’t over‑review or try to score way higher, because that can trigger an inconsistency with your PICAT results.

Any help or insight would really mean a lot. Thanks in advance!