Wayne Keeler:  

Life Well, ok...here goes... In the summer of '85 my dad dropped a bombshell on us and moved us to Tucson, Arizona...the summer b-4 my senior year in H.S. I was not getting along with parents, got kicked out of the house. I resigned myself to work full time as a cabinet maker and printer and go to school part time. I met my wife and the next year Desert Shield kicked off...by now I was making pretty good money but wanted to serve my country so I joined the last combat arms unit in the US Army Reserve, 8/40th Armor, at FT Huachuca AZ in Nov. 1991. Went to basic as a 19K (Armor Crewman) and was at basic when the Desert Storm Ground was winding down... Spent two more years at 8/40th until the DA decided to transfer all of the Combat arms units to the National Guard. That same summer my cabinet company went out of business and I was out of work...I went to talk to the recruiter about going active. Showed up as a CPL in December of 1994 at A CO, 2/77 AR (Later reflagged as 1/68 AR Commanded by LTCs J. Michael Lineberger and Ralf W. Zimmerman; part of 3rd BDE, 4th ID), FT Carson Colorado. Served as a gunner, earned my E-5 and was on the OML for E-6 when my CO, CPT Kevin M. Nash, advised me in Aug '98 that I had been selected to go Green to Gold. My wife, Amy and I had a daughter, Delaney and I went back to school at the University of Colorado and did ROTC with the "Mountain Ranger Battalion." I was commissioned as an Armor officer (once a tanker always a tanker...!) in May of 2000 and sworn in by my old BC, LTC Zimmerman. Went to AOBC at Knox and then reported to 1/13 Armor (commanded by LTC Michael P. Wadsworth), 3rd BDE, 1st AD, FT Riley, KS. I have since served as 1st PLT, C CO PL (where we earned Top Tank PLT on TTXII, and Kicked Ass on OPFOR at NTC), and have recently been promoted to 1LT and reassigned as th Bravo Company XO. My wife is recently...Expand for more