I feel that was the definite shift from being a child to being a man. That's where I grew up and realized this was not a game.
Without the Civil Air Patrol, I would have gone into the Army not knowing as much as I did. I was ahead of everyone else. It also helped form me as a leader.
The army has taken a serious paradigm shift. It is now training soldiers to be flexible and adaptive.
It was like I closed a chapter in my life and I am now able to move on. By completing that, I've just proven that if I set my mind to it, I can do it.
Before I left, I thought we were only doing good for them. But when I got there, I realized if some force came in to our country and took over, even though they were doing it to help us out, I wouldn't be too happy either.
It's a tough unit to get into and to stay in.
