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View Full Version : How has Music Played a Part in Your Military Career?



metalstory
06-25-06, 11:23 PM
Dear forum moderator(s) and members, please feel free to remove this posting if you feel it violates your forum mission and/or you feel it is an inappropriate use of your forum. Note: In an attempt to contact all branches of service I may have posted this message in a few forum areas. If you feel this is an intrusion, I apologize in advance. Thank you for your time.
The reason I am writing this post is this...A few months ago I saw a tv special that was talking about the USO tours. The interviewer asked one of the bands why they were on the tour. The answer was that the band had been told by a serviceman that their song was used as a motivator before every raid. It turns out that I have heard stories like that many times from my friends, family, co-workers, clients, and contacts who have been in the service. It seems to me that when military folk are doing their jobs, in a lot of instances, they use their music as an inspiration. I am hoping to write an article (or series of articles, depending upon how many people respond) that highlights the music that military persons listen to, to help them accomplish their mission.
I am an amature article writer and DJ for Braingell Radio (www.braingell.com (http://www.braingell.com)) which is a worldwide, hard rock/heavy metal radio station. I have also had years of experience working with the military, which I will detail a bit at the end.
I am hoping to receive stories about how everyday servicemen AND women have used music to help them get the job done. Whether it was the song you were cranking while thundering across the Iraqi border or a song that you used to keep yourself awake while scrubbing a thousand serving trays, I want to know what song (or band) it was and the story behind it. Even though I am creating this story on behalf of a metal station and hope to feature heavy metal stories, I love all types of music and would like to read and write about all music types as well. Be it country, rap, classic rock, gospel, or classical... I look forward to reading (and responding to) them all. Not only that, stories do not have to be from the "new millenium" conflicts. They can be from any timeframe. Middle East, Vietnam, Korea, WWII, or any other era. I invite all members of all service branches to participate.
If you choose to tell me a story, I thank you in advance. This is a subject that I am passionate about, so I really do appriciate it. Please feel free to include (OR exclude) any details you desire, such as your name, rank, unit, locations, dates, times, nicknames, or anything else you can possibly think of. Please DO NOT tell me information that might be considered classified, need to know only, or sensitive. While I am excited about this project, I do not want to put anyone in danger or get them in a bind.
In the event you wonder if I am just some media hack, who is just looking for a story, I am absolutely not. I have been working with the military since 1992 and come from a family of servicemen. My father was a KC-135 pilot for the Air Force, my stepfather was an F-4 Phantom mechanic in the Air Force, my grandfathers were in the Army, my father-in-law was Canadian Air Force and my wife is currently a recruiter for civilians to support military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I wanted to be an Air Force pilot like my dad, but medical conditions kept me from doing so. Instead, I ended up going into a military contracting career, the latest of which I worked for was Northrop Grumman. Since '92, I have been one of the people who create training software across the services. While I have created (or helped create) courseware for many military organizations some of the organizations that stand out for me most are: Army-Ft. Sill Artillery School (all MOSs), Army-Ft. Bliss BCNOC and Captains Career, Army-Air Missle Defense, Army-92Y, Army-88K, Army-45K, Army-BFV maintenance, Navy-DDG-51 maintenance, Navy-F-15 maintenance, Navy-TOPGUN school, Navy-LCAC maintenance, Marine-AAV maintenance, and the one I am proudest of, which is just being finished as we speak, training that is slated to go out to all Army transportation units which teaches "in theater" convoy defenses and most importantly teaches defenses against IEDs.
In closing, I hope the people who read this would be willing to let me share their stories. I really think there are lots of people out there who would find it to be as fascinating as I do. If you would like to contribute (or comment), please feel free to email me. Please do not post your stories in the forum, because I will not be able to track them all. Please use the email shown below. ALSO, please feel free to pass this around to anyone you may know who might have something to contribute. Share your service. Share your music.
Thank you for all that you do,
Chris "Berube" Lee
berube27@hotmail.com
NOTE: I will try to keep in contact with anyone who contacts me, but in the event that I get flooded with thousands of responses, it might take me a very long time. If this is successful, I will try to get the word out about my progress.