Terrence Hynes - Army Strong Stories

Congrats to SSG Ogle

Terrence Hynes — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:45:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Congrats to SSG Ogle, of the US Army Recruiting Station - Grants Pass, for doing a great job at the U.S. Army 6th Recruiting Brigade SAMC board and advancing to USAREC! HooaH! Best of luck at USAREC!!!!! Way to represent the Redding Recruiting Company and the Sacramento Recruiting Battalion!...read more

What to do with life after the Army?

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:34:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
What to do, what to do? In the next two - six years, my time in the Army will likely come to an end. Sadly, I have not spent the last twenty-two years deciding exactly what career path to follow after retirement. Sure, I've had plans and pursued those plans by attending college. The problem is that plans change - or at least mine seem to- and, when plans change, so does the college curriculum. As a result, my degree plan has changed countless times in more than...read more

Sergeant Audie Murphy board

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:25:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Next week, Staff Sergeant Ogle of the Grants Pass Recruiting Station will represent the Redding Recruiting Company and The Sacramento Recruiting Battalion at the 6th Recruiting Brigade Sergeant Audie Murphy Club board. SSG Ogle's recruiting station is in Southern Oregon and isolated from most of the company. As a result, he had only one fellow NCO and his Family to help him study every day and get him prepared for the Battalion level board - which he smoked! Hooah! If...read more

The patriotic "anti-military" County

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:11:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, I’ve had a few months to study the market in Northern California since leaving Minnesota. From the South end of the Sacramento Valley to the Southern third of Oregon and from the West Coast to the Nevada state line, one thing remains constant – mountains and trees; BIG trees. The people though, vary in personality and patriotism by county up here. I had been told – and even bought into the fact than one of counties, Humboldt is and will always...read more

Back in action!

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:50:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
I'm back in action! I have been off the net for a couple of months learning my new terrain in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Quite a difference between here and Minneapolis. I only had 1,300 square miles to cover there, whereas here I have 37,000 square miles. It has been an adjustment to say the least! So far, so good. Mother nature has been good to us up here. It has rained only once since June and the temperature is triple digits more often than not. Hard to complain about...read more

The road from Minneapolis to Redding

Terrence Hynes — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 07:21:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, we made the trek from Minneapolis to Redding! We spent 5 days taking in sites along the way and arrived on Tuesday to begin the hunt for a home. The mission was accomplished on Thursday, but we can't move in until the 20th, so we hit the pacific coast to enjoy California for a couple of weeks! Stopped in at the new office and met the commander for a bit, while in Redding. I'm excited to get to work, but I need to wait until our household goods are delivered and we get settled....read more

My "Symbol of Strength"

Terrence Hynes — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:16:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
The latest advertising campaign for the Army demonstrates the many meanings of the uniform. For me, the uniform represents family in a very real way. I was engaged to my wife, Jennifer for six long years before we were married. Now, we didn't plan it that way I assure you. Jennifer was unable to work at that time due to complications of Lupus, which was far less understood and manageable than it is today. Because we were young and she could not work, it was up to me to...read more

PCS: Down to a Science

Terrence Hynes — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:48:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, the move is officially on! This morning I signed out and the movers will be here for the next three days before we drive West on Friday. I have been a Mustang, an Eagle and a Marauder. I enjoyed every second of it and wouldn't change a thing! I am grateful for the great leadership, past and present, I had while I was here. I was blessed with great Soldiers, Families and civilian staff members who taught me allot and I will never forget any of them! I have exactly 22 hours to...read more

Armed Forces Day: United in one cause

Terrence Hynes — Wed, 18 May 2011 04:44:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Working in Minnesota has given me the opportunity to experience, first hand, the definition of "Minnesota nice". Here, perhaps more than anywhere I have ever served, I spend a good portion of each day stopping as passersby extend their hand and issue a genuine Thank-You. In the first ten years years of my career I accepted many such gestures and walked away proud. In the ten years since, I have received more appreciative hand-shakes than I could ever put a number on. Now of days...read more

SHARP: Not just another training requirement

Terrence Hynes — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:35:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
A few months ago I attended the Army’s new course on Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and prevention (SHARP). I had spent a few years as a unit victim advocate for sexual assault and I understood the importance of this new program, so I volunteered for the training and became the Battalion Senior SHARP specialist. This week units across the Army will begin the first approved iteration of training on this program. Hopefully, most units will have a trained SHARP...read more

social media: Connecting America's Army with America's people

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:31:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Wow, many of you have provided great feedback from my post that was published in the NCO Journal this month (APRIL 2011 pg 42-43, Recruiting the All-Volunteer Force). I was a little disappointed that it was not pointed out to readers that it was actually a blog from armystrongstories.com. That would have been great exposure for the site Army-wide and perhaps captured new readership. After my PCS move to California is complete, I am thinking of writing an article for the Recruiter...read more

Farewell Minneapolis and thank you!

Terrence Hynes — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:20:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, I've been away for a few months focused on work. It has been a challenging year compared to last year to say the least. Recently I discovered I will be PCSing to Redding Recruiting Company in Northern California, where I will serve as the First Sergeant. We were taken by surprise, as we expected another year here in Minneapolis. We are getting excited though and dealing with all of the usual headaches that go with moving to a new place. My daughter is excited, but a little nervous...read more

"Don't ask, don't tell" hype is everywhere!

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:29:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Don't ask, don't tell hype is everywhere! When DADT was passed into law, people were outraged. They were concerned about the impact on readiness, morale and welfare. In the years since DADT (and the years before it), we have served alongside homosexual Soldiers. Sure, they couldn't admit who they were. It was a big "secret" that everyone knew. In all those years we shared open-bay showers, we shared rooms, we ate together, went to the field together and occupied...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Resiliency is the theme of the month!

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:28:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, the nice relaxing weekend came to crashing halt with the ringing of the 0530 alarm. On this day there were no early morning phone calls to interrupt P.T. Not, because everything was going smooth down at the MEPS, but rather because we had nothing going on down there today. Not exactly good news! I prefer the annoying "you suck" phone calls as I arise myself. At least when that's happening things are going on to provide the strength. I can overcome problems and...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: The winning attitude

Terrence Hynes — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:18:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well it has been a long couple of weeks fighting the uphill battle of recruiting in December. As we prepared for what is now my second December as the 1SG in Minneapolis Company, we took note of last year's lessons learned. As a result, everything looked picture perfect on paper. Life though is rarely picture perfect and this year December is looking as grim as it has for all the 11 years I've spent in recruiting command. As I made the rounds throughout the company footprint this...read more

High School Recruiting: The final product!

Terrence Hynes — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:03:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, the time has come to put the high school recruiting episodes of the blog to bed! It has been insightful to read what all of you had to say on the 30 or so sites that posted the blog and asked for your feedback. WOW! For your viewing pleasure (or displeasure), I am posting the final product here. In the end I kept it simple. I based it on what I know to be true and what I could support. There is room for stronger arguments, but I'm just a guy working full time, taking care of...read more

The High School Recruiting Saga continues...

Terrence Hynes — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 07:45:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Okay, you all know my point of view on this high school recruiting topic. I am preparing my essay for final draft tomorrow. A classmate of mine who is also a recruiter is writing his argumentative paper on high school recruiting as well. He posted his thesis statement in the discussion thread, as we were all instructed to do. We were told to peer evaluate the thesis to determine if it did its job and provided a precise stance for the paper. One of our "peers" decided...read more

Happy Thanksgiving

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 06:33:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
I'd like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. This is the first time I've been living in the same state as my family since 2007, so I'm extremely thankful to be spending it with them! I'm also thankful for the warriors overseas who will not spend this holiday with their families. I remember today that they and their families sacrifice for my benefit and yours. For many of them, this marks another holiday in a LONG line of holidays they have not been able to spend with their...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Recruiter integrity

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:00:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
I have spent the last few days observing the chatter on the U.S. Army facebook page, where one of my recent posts was featured and stirred up some friendly debate. Now, I’m all for debate! Without a little controversy, we have nothing to talk about. However, I did notice that a fair enough number of respondents still have a misperception about recruiters. There is a long-standing belief in the general public that recruiters are liars. I have even been told as much by members...read more

OMG! The response to the essay

Terrence Hynes — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 04:24:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, I must say I was overwhelmed by the amount of comments “The Essay Question “received. It got nearly 250 remarks on the US Army facebook page alone. http://www.facebook.com/USarmy/posts/119290871467192 There were loads of passionate discussions about this topic, which turned out to be a whole lot more controversial than I expected, especially considering the venues that posted it. I certainly respect all view points and understand the poignant...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Tough Love

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:35:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
The 12th Sergeant Major of the Army, SMA Jack E. Tilley, in an interview with the NCO journal (2000), recounted telling his wife about his selection to the position – “I came home and said, Gloria you know I’ve been selected as the twelfth Sergeant Major of the Army. She said how many people are there in the Army? I said, well including the Reserves and the National Guard, and Active Duty – I’d probably say there are about a million Soldiers. She...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: The essay question

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:57:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Today, while working my way through this week's school assignments, I was instructed to select an argumentative essay topic from a provided list. Among the topics was a selection entitled "should the Military be allowed to recruit in High Schools?". As a recruiter, I was little perturbed that my university decided this topic was even debatable. Recruiting is a series of rejections and negative speculation by others, so I didn't let it bother me long. Instead, I began to...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: The melting-pot of pride

Terrence Hynes — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:58:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Yesterday I sat in the waiting room of a local doctor's office while my wife was in for a routine check-up. While I was there I read three magazines. Each of the periodicals was completely different from the other, in as much as they ran the gambit from Newsweek, to National Geographic, to T.V. guide magazine. Despite the fact these three have little or nothing common, I noted that each ran a very similar story on the exact same topic. The topic was: The fall of Detroit. Now, when I...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Veterans who made me Army Strong

Terrence Hynes — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:36:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
First, I hope all of you service members (past and present), Families, and Future Soldiers out there are having an enjoyable and relaxing Veteran's Day. You've earned it! I had a chance to exchange hundreds of Facebook messages with a whole lot of former and current battle buddies today. One of them reminded me to pass the message that our outstanding and supportive Family Members deserve a special thank you today as well. He's right too! Without the understanding and supportive...read more

What, I'm not a veteran?!?

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:21:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
The other day stumbled on a blog entry http://armylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/2010/11/what-im-not-a-veteran/. The blog tells of an encounter had by Soldiers currently serving. They have multiple combat tours behind their service. Despite that, they were informed that they are not veterans because they still get an active duty paycheck. I was a little surprised this happened, but more surprised still to read all the comments and learn that there is actually debate over the definition of...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: The response to the quest

Terrence Hynes — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:12:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
I was able to locate yesterday's post on several web sites that picked it up. Several Facebook pages shared it on their wall as well. As I expected, it drew a wide range of thoughts. Only a few of those comments were left on this site, but I was able to read many more on other sites. Every point was valid, on both ends of the spectrum. Let us examine the three most popular responses: *note* I am paraphrasing the three most popular schools of thought... 1) You think you...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: The quest for the patch

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:13:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
On August 23rd, 1990, I took my first oath of enlistment. I did so with only one motivating factor: The Gulf War was looming. The country was embarking on its first war since Vietnam and I wasn't gonna watch it on T.V. No sir, not me! I was going to do my part, as so many generations had before me. The very day I graduated Military Police School, the war started. It started without me. I was a reservist in those days and my unit left while I was still a trainee. The night...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: The college benefit

Terrence Hynes — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:48:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Hello everyone, I took yesterday off to enjoy my birthday with the family. We had a great day together and I got pretty much nothing accomplished. Today will be spent cramming to complete school work I should already have done. Before the Army I went to college for one semester. Didn't like it, wasn't good at., and clearly I was not ready for it at 17. After a few years of maturation in the Army reserves, I started my Active career and quickly realized college was the key to...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Recruiter pride

Terrence Hynes — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:14:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Well, another recruiting day is in the books! Much the same as yesterday, if you got a chance to read my post. My phone rang at 0555, even before I was out the door to do PT. What was the problem? Same as always - a problem with a document (AGAIN! UGH!). This time the applicant was forced to leave and come back tomorrow. I'll take it though! Come back tomorrow beats the hell out of Don't come back! Right? Sure it does. While that patriotic young man didn't go home a Soldier today,...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Then and now

Terrence Hynes — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:40:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Almost the moment my eyes opened today I wondered: Wouldn't it be nice to sleep till 8 o'clock? EVERY DAY! Even the sound of that brings on a relaxing feeling throughout my body. I thought of going to the gym whenever I felt like it. Maybe in the evening when I'm actually awake. That would be nice. I do it on weekends when I'm not to busy now. I thought of punching a time-clock and walking out the door without another thought of work until 9 a.m.. I wondered if my...read more

Retire or Soldier on?: Trials and tribulations are what makes us Army Strong!

Terrence Hynes — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:16:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Hello all, Today was up and down, but as I reflect on it all - it occurs to me that the more stress and headaches the day brings, the more I'm accomplishing. That sense of accomplishment that you can only feels as an Army leader who has put in a genuine days work. I found my self addressing the same issues I seem to address every morning. Problems at the MEPS - paperwork done wrong (same mistake as the last ten times), documents missing for applicants, someone failed the...read more

Retire or Soldier on: Why do people enlist?

Terrence Hynes — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:50:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Today I reflected on exactly what made me enlist. In the beginning, it was easy - I wanted to serve my country and my country was on the verge of war in the Persian Gulf. That was the reason for joining the reserves. Later, when I wanted to get married, but couldn't afford health insurance, the Regular Army was a clear choice. All reenlistments since (over 20 years worth) were because I love the Army - nothing more and nothing less! I imagine there were other reasons for...read more

Retire or Soldier on? The saga continues

Terrence Hynes — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:59:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Hello readers, Today was a day of reflection as I considered the content of this "to retire or not to retire" blog. Since yesterday's post I had a chance to consider the many great things I've done in my career. Below is a history of assignments. I'm happy to talk in detail about any of them if anyone desires any information: MILITARY HISTORY: 1990-1991 C co 787 MP BN, Ft McClellan, AL (OSUT) 1991-1992 301st MP Enemy...read more

Retire or Soldier on?

Terrence Hynes — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:13:00 GMT

By: Terrence Hynes
Hello readers, this is my first post, so allow me to introduce myself. I am First Sergent Terry Hynes and currently I'm the 1SG of the Minneapolis Recruiting Company, which is one of 8 companies in the second largest recruiting Battalion in the country. I have been in position there for 13 months now and, in August, I will have 21 years of service. Most of it active duty, but I did a few years as a reservist in the beginning of my career. I started as an MP and later became a...read more