Charles Fahrenholz:
CLASS OF 1988
South Brunswick High SchoolClass of 1988
Monmouth junction, NJ
Gaston CollegeClass of 2006
Dallas, NC
Charles's Story
Life
I'd like to say, "Hey" to all those who visit and give a little info on what I've been doing these (I hate to say it) almost 20 years.
About a week after graduating good old South Brunswick High I was in basic training for the U.S. Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. I didn't even get to enjoy my last summer. I served four years in the Air Force then I got out in 1992. (I'll talk about it more in the military section)
I had a few odd jobs here and there as a security guard, box packer, armored car guard, and cable TV installer. In October of 1995 I packed up and moved to North Carolina where I got a job as a cable TV service technician. I lived in an apartment in Gastonia, NC about 30 miles west of Charlotte, NC. About two years later I bought a house in Dallas, NC where I am still living today. In July 1997 I became a police officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department which is where I still work, sort of. Come July 2008 I will have been a police officer for 11 years but only there for eight of them, I'll get to that later.
Along the way I managed to get married to a girl that I had met while I was in the Air Force, Jennifer. We started dating in March of 1989 and were married in May of 1995; you just can't rush these things. She was an East Brunswick girl and still in high school when I met her at a party. That sounds kind of bad but we're only two years apart.
I have a daughter, Alexis, who was born in 1999 and of course she's a daddy's girl. Good thing I'm a cop, it will give the boys something to think about when they pick her up on a date.
After dragging my feet and procrastinating I finally went to college. I attended Gaston College in Dallas, NC from 2001 to 2006 and finally after five years got my Associates Degree in Criminal Justice. (I know what you're thinking, five years to get a two year degree? There was a two year break in school explained in the military section, I'm a little slow, but not that slow).
I still love Jeeps and motorcycles. I had that green 1979 CJ-7 in high school, I've had five other Jeeps since then and I had just gotten a new four-door Jeep Wrangler (more family friendly, got tired of my daughter walking over my seat when it was raining to get in the back of my old Wrangler) which is just sitting in my driveway. Jenn drives it every once and a while to keep everything working. I also have a Yamaha Roadstar Warrior. It's kind of a power cruiser; I'm trying to make the transition from sport bike to cruiser so I thought this was a happy medium, sucks getting old.
I'm currently serving my second tour of duty in Iraq scheduled to return home in August 2008. I hope I don't miss the 20 year reunion, hate I missed the ten year.
I hope you all have d...Expand for more
one well, hopefully I'll see you at a reunion sometime in the future, take care.
Military
Onto the military; while I was in the Air Force I was a Security Policeman and was stationed at McGuire AFB, NJ with the 438th Security Police Squadron. (Didn't really get far from home) I was there for all four years of my enlistment. There were times I almost got out to see the world. In 1989 I had orders for Germany but when the Wall came down there was a reduction in forces so my orders were cancelled.
Desert Shield/Desert Storm came and went and I didn't go. Then my final chance came when I got orders to the Philippians in 1991. I was all ready to go, signed out of the base, I was home on leave and three days before I was supposed to ship out, the volcano next to Clark AFB erupts and the base is closed. I get the phone call to report back to McGuire. I did my last year there and left active duty. I wasn't really even thinking about the reserves or National Guard.
Two months after I got out the phone rings one day and it's an Army National Guard recruiter. So I joined the Army National Guard. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I was thinking, should have went into the Air Guard.
First I was in the 50th Military Police Company at Fort Dix since that is what I did in the Air Force. Six months later the unit was shut down due to state budget cuts so I had to find a new home. I ended up being a tank crewman with Delta Company 2/102 Armor out of Hackettstown, NJ. When I moved to North Carolina I had to find a new unit; the closest armor units were over three hours away so I ended up as an artilleryman with Charlie Battery 1/113th Field Artillery in Lincolnton, NC. I was with them when I got my first tour of duty in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II in 2004.
When I returned from Iraq the Army was reorganizing so there ended up being excess soldiers in the slots at the rank above me and I wanted to get promoted before I retired so I changed units and got into the 130th Military History Detachment out of Raleigh, NC. The commander had told me that I could go to a two week school, get promoted right after I graduated and the unit wasn't supposed to deploy until 2009, which was fine with me because I was planning to retire in 2008. Things didn't go as planned and I ended up going to the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland for a four month active duty school to be a journalist; couldn't tell that by reading this could you. After finishing the school it took several months before I was promoted and ... you guessed it, our deployment date was moved up. So as I am writing this the 23rd day of December 2007 I am in the fourth month of my second deployment to Iraq, not scheduled to come home until August 2008.
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