Derrick Grabener - Army Strong Stories

What is a Drill Sergeant Really?

Derrick Grabener — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:58:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
My time is a Drill Sergeant is coming to a close in a couple of weeks and I’ve had a little while to chew on exactly what being a Drill Sergeant is and how I felt about being a Drill Sergeant for the last two years. First off I’d like to say that it was nothing at all like I thought it would be....read more

Drill Sergeant in Portland, Or.

Derrick Grabener — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:58:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
As I sit here in the Dallas Airport waiting to get on a plane to Portland, I look back at the last couple of weeks and realized just how truly blessed I am. I have an awesome family that truly cares about me and how I’m doing and they tell me everyday how proud they are of me. That’s a really good feeling to hear that even at 30 years old. Even my 5 year old tells me how proud she is that her daddy is a soldier. To hear your children tell their friends my...read more

The Healing Power of Veterans Day

Derrick Grabener — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:53:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
July 4th, 1776 is a day that everyone knows. That's the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed and we became a nation. Throughout our 234 plus years of existence as a Nation we've changed many things but one thing has always remained constant. That one constant has always been "The Soldier". The soldier has always been there; steadfast, ready and willing to protect the freedoms that we hold so dear to our...read more

A shining beacon of light in an otherwise dark place

Derrick Grabener — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:36:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
As most people already know, our school systems are in serious need of some overhauling. The same can be said for the Edgewood Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. This school which is the Memorial High School is filled with inner city students and might be what you call a hard school to go to. Most students are living in poverty ridden conditions and some students are in gangs or on drugs or just in a really hard situation. The bright spot of this...read more

White Bear Lake High School

Derrick Grabener — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:56:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
I got the chance to go back to Minneapolis yesterday to visit with some students from White Bear Lake High School. I was invited to show some students how to do some Physical Training while sitting at home watching some TV or playing some video games. The one thing I've noticed about every school that I've visited is the initial response to seeing me in their classroom or gym. I always get this look like OMG what is he doing here...read more

From the foothills of the Smoky Mountains to the concrete jungle of Indianapolis

Derrick Grabener — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:07:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
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...read more

Kansas Jayhawks ROTC Program is Alive and Well

Derrick Grabener — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:11:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
I got on outstanding opportunity to work with the University of Kansas ROTC program this week. After talking with MAJ Clark I learned that the program currently has 118 students ranging from seniors to freshman. The program is run under the Department of Military Science and currently has roughly 200,000 dollars of scholarship money available. What does that mean for you? That means roughly 15-20 scholarships available for next year. These scholarships are...read more

In the Land of Barbecue and NASCAR

Derrick Grabener — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:27:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
There is definitely a buzz going around the City these days and why blame them. Their Chiefs are 3-0 for the first time since 2003 and NASCAR is in town for the third leg of the Chase. Everyone is smiling and people here seem generally happy. It been a great experience for the first two days on the trip. It's been an interesting couple of days in that the event's this week are quite different from what I've been doing. I've spent the last two days...read more

Drill Sergeant's meet some amazing people at the Fair

Derrick Grabener — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:41:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
I must say that it's been a privilege to work at the NY State Fair. I've had the chance to work with a group of outstanding recruiter's who I have no doubt will turn quite a few of the leads that they recieved into future soldiers. For those of you out there that read this story and don't know much about the Army I wanna tell you a little about the set of Values that we live by as soldier's. These values are called the Army Core Values and there are seven...read more

Drill Sergeant's and Veterans

Derrick Grabener — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:03:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
Yesterday was Veterans Day at the NY State fair and I must tell you that I found myself in aww of them. I met so many vets from just about every war and all they wanted to do was shake our hand thank us for serving, when all I wanted to do was thank them. It's amazing how that works. So I'm gonna something a little different here and take this oppurtunity to thank them using this as my handshake. It was those that served before us that laid the foundation for...read more

Drill Sergeant's in New York

Derrick Grabener — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:04:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
So we've been in New york at the fair since Saturday and we've had the oppurtunity to talk with thousands of men and women of all ages and I must say it's been a huge success. I'm very optimistic at the young men and women who have signed the dotted line already or have appointments set up in the next week or so to find the right job for them. The recruiters here are extremely knowledgeable and are willing to help anybody that steps up to the plate to join the best...read more

Drill Sergeant Exhibitor Program

Derrick Grabener — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:38:00 GMT

By: Derrick Grabener
As you read in my Bio, I am a current member of the Drill Sergeant Exhibitor Program. There are 8 Drill Sergeants currently in this program and beginning the 27 of August we will traveling to various locations throughout the United States telling our Army Story as well as many other things such as teaching young adults about the Army Core Values, the Army Strong message and just helping them to make a goal and a plan for themselves whether it be in the Army, some other branch of military...read more