This past week my former colleague and First Sergeant Steve Mohacey retired from the Army and renewed his career as a music educator in San Antonio.  He has meant a lot to me in my development as a Soldier and Musician but even more as a person.

He grew up in San Antonio and graduated from UT-Austin, and started his musical career doing gigs in San Antonio and Austin, TX. He then spent time playing for Disneyland in CA, SeaWorld in San Antonio, and teaching school in the Austin area. He then decided to join the Army and serve his country.  He is one of my real life heroes.  He has served in every possible military assignment you could throw at him and because of this he has something special: Experience.

The Army affords each soldier with a variety of challenges and life experiences that change us and improve us as citizens. Any veteran of the Armed Forces, no matter their length of service can relate. These experiences don’t make us better than anyone but they do give us a unique palette to paint from as we live life outside of the Army.

Many teachers fresh out of school have to work hard to compile experience to match up to the subjects they teach. It often takes many years to develop a base of life experiences and knowledge that can make a  “dusty “ textbook come to life. “Mister Mohacey” is battle tested and has performed music all over the world representing all of us. He has already encountered the variety of difficulty or challenges his students will have to overcome to be successful as musicians. Can you imagine his students surprise when he answers a question, "I learned this in Bagdad, that in Japan, a little more in Korea, a sample of that in CA, don't forget this from VA, what about this idea I learned in TX." His toolbox is full and ready to get to work. My colleagues that are teachers are fortunate to have him in their community and his students are going to benefit from his many experiences.

Thank you for your service First Sergeant. 

I have learned that I could never end anything, including a blog post about my former first sergeant without an invitation.  

If you want to have a chance to serve with best;

If you want a challenge in your life;

If you want to put your skills to the test;

 If you want to take your music to a higher level… e-mail me. I would love to meet you and see if you have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of my hero, mentor, and friend, First Sergeant Steve Mohacey, US Army Retired. 

 Until next time...Arctic Warrior, Arctic Tough

CW2 Jeff Price