I've had the great opportunity over the past two weeks to visit two beautiful yet distinctly different places.  I went from the gorgeous fall colored Smoky Mountains to downtown Indianapolis. I spent ten days in Tennessee and 5 in Indianapolis.

     While in Tennessee, I was privileged to spend time at the Falls Foothills Festival listening to music from various artist such as Lynard Skynard, Glorianna, Jake Owen, Tracy Lawrence, Jamie Buckley, Starship, and 38 Special to name a few.  In between concerts I was impressed with how many people wanted to come and talk to a couple of Drill Sergeants about the Army.  Attendance for the three day event top 10,000 and we had aver 130 outstanding individuals ask about how to join the U.S. Army.  That to me is amazing how a small booth at a concert and a few recruiters and Drill Sergeants could have such an impact.  This country that we live in never stops amazing me.  We truly have the most patriotic citizens in the world.

     I was also able to visit South Doyle High School where I was able to train about 100 ROTC students in Drill and Ceremonies.  I missed training troops so it was a nice change of pace for me.  The students were extremely attentive and asked so many good questions about the Army and what it's really like.  For those of you that are asking that same question, here is what I told them.  It's the hardest job in the world but it's also the most rewarding.  Not just in terms of money but in job satisfaction.  This is truly the best team in the entire world.  We have soldiers in the Army from all over this planet who speak a multitude of languages and have a variety of religious backgrounds and yet we make it work everyday.  Day in and day out we are there to protect this countries freedoms and each other.  I was also able to host a future soldier event where 14 soldiers who have already enlisted but are waiting to ship to basic training were able to find out exactly what Basic Training Physical Training is really like followed by a question and answer session.  They were really pumped up and asked some really good questions and just wanted to soak up every ounce of information they could get there hands on.  Have a great time in Tennessee.  Thanks to the Nashville recruiting Battalion and the Knoxville recruiting company.  You all are true professionals and it showed.

         Last week was equally special.  Future Farmer's of America is an outstanding High School Program and over 50,000 students, teachers, chaperones, and vendors all gathered in Indianapolis for their annual convention.  Let me tell you, those students are some of the best I've ever seen.  The future is definitely bright for our country with those young adults leading the way.  Every person that we talked to was goal oriented, well-spoken, and very respectful.  The convention was held to teach students the importance of several pillars.  Those pillars are Leadership, Education, Opportunity, and Options.  I find it very pleasing to know that teachers and organizations are basically instilling the same values that we live by as Soldiers.  It showed in the way those students interacted with everyone at the convention.  Truly a class act and each of you deserve a pat on the back.  We had over 5,000 students register for more information about the Army, which is awesome.  I would feel honored to have any and all of those students on the same team as me and all my fellow soldiers.  The booth was outstanding as was ran very well by some of the best soldiers and civilians out there.  Big thanks to SFC Smith, David Trip, and the fine folks from Momentum Sports.  Truly a class act.  Keep up the good work.

     Look forward to hearing some of your comments and questions regarding any of these events or about the Army in general.  God Bless and look for future blogs.

                                                                                                                      DS Grabener, Derrick D.