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by Blake Bryant
Michael Carson
Michael Carson is a man that wears many different hats. I learned a lot about him when I talked to him. He is very energized about what he does. He loves his grandson SaiJay. It was an honor to interview Michael Carson.
SERVICE
Michael Carson served in Army National Guard.Michael was an E5 and Sergeant. Michael was in acommunications unit. “His unit providedcommunications similar to AT&T how theyprovide communications to the civilian sector.”He served in Little Rock. He was attached to the Photo Provided by Michael Carsonunit called the 212 Signal Battalion, Which he served there for about ten years.
Photo provided by Michael Carson
BEING DRAFTED
Michael was enlisted at the age of 19 in a particular unit for college benefits. Michael said, “The reason I joined was because I tried doing the college thing and it was just not for Me.” after figuring that out, the military provided him an avenue of interest in electronics. I was fascinated by electronics. So after college not working out he went into the guard. After he went thru basic training and IT he was able to move back home and go back to school for electronics.
WHY THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
Michael said, "It gave him teh flexiblity to serve in the military, to get a skill and then come back home. After moving back home, I was able to go back to college. They actually ahd bonuses and other programs that paid for my tuition and I thougth that was a pretty cool idea."
FIRST DAY IN SERVICE
“Well it was a little scary at first you know. I was a little prepared though; my dad was a Korean veteran. I also had a sister that was in the military; I had two brothers that were in the military also in marines. Then I had another sister that was in the army. So the idea really wasn’t foreign to me. It was a little scary not knowing what to expect, but when I got there, it really was not that bad because everyone was experiencing the same thing I was experiencing, so it really was not all that bad. “
INSTRUCTORS
“I will never forget my instructor, my basic training instructor was Sergeant Bing and Staff Sergeant Pierce. They were both Vietnam veterans. Very very sharp, very very skilled, very very intimidating, but on the surface you could tell that both of them cared very deeply about each and every one of us. They also cared about if you were absorbing the information that they were teaching us. But I will never ever forget those guys. “
HARD TIMES
“I would say that I did not have to much of a hard time since most of my family was in the military. I do have a little short story about going thru basic training. I would write home a lot, which helped me, so I wrote home to my dad and my dad of course was in the military serving over at the Arkansas Military academy at Camp Robison. He and Command Sergeant Major Hicks were very good friends. I wrote my dad and Command Sergeant Major Hicks ask him how was Mike doing and I said I just got a letter from him and Command Sergeant Major Hicks said how is he doing, he said that he is having a great time and really enjoying it. Sergeant major looked down and smirked a little bit and said boy must have had a really hard home life. “
WARS HE FOUGHT IN
“ Well actually I was called up in the first desert storm.” Did you have any tough times? “Being in the first desert storm was a very tough time. That was very very nerve racking experience. At the time I was about 23 or 24 and my youngest daughter Amy was 3 months old. My wife at the time was about 21 and it was time for me to deploy so that was really tough for me to leave them. I think one of the memorable moments was when I looked at my dad and he had a little tear in his eye, that is when I almost lost it because I really can’t stand to see my dad cry.”
PRANKS PLAYED ON PEOPLE
“I would say that I did not have to much of a hard time since most of my family was in the military. I do have a little short story about going thru basic training. I would write home a lot, which helped me, so I wrote home to my dad and my dad of course was in the military serving over at the Arkansas Military academy at Camp Robison. He and Command Sergeant Major Hicks were very good friends. I wrote my dad and Command Sergeant Major Hicks ask him how was Mike doing and I said I just got a letter from him and Command Sergeant Major Hicks said how is he doing, he said that he is having a great time and really enjoying it. Sergeant major looked down and smirked a little bit and said boy must have had a really hard home life. “
WHAT DID YOU DO FOR GOOD LUCK?
Michael did not really do anything for good luck. He actually gave his life to Christ and read his bible every day. This helped him focus on God a lot more and teach him to rely on God when he had a hard time. He drew confidence through reading God’s word and wisdom.
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT CAREER?
“Right now what I do is, I am a associate pastor at The Church At Rock Creek, and I came on board as the IT director. I also do what is called celebrate recovery which is a ministry here that helps people with any hurts, habits or hang ups currently in there life. “ Celebrate recovery helps a lot of people in the church."
RETURNING HOME
“When I return home there was a write up in the paper that the 212 sigma returned home."
Photo provided by Michael Carson
Photo provided by Michael Carson
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