WEBVTT 00:00.140 --> 00:03.140 How are you doing today ? I'm doing 00:03.140 --> 00:05.090 great yourself ? Good . How's the 00:05.090 --> 00:07.090 weather out there ? And you're in , 00:07.090 --> 00:09.790 where are you in Fort Dix for Dix New 00:09.790 --> 00:13.760 Jersey . It's cold . 00:13.760 --> 00:16.380 It's typical weather for this time of 00:16.380 --> 00:19.740 year . It's been cold and rainy and 00:19.800 --> 00:22.210 it's not nothing like Alabama where 00:22.210 --> 00:24.440 it's nice and sunny , I'm sure , but 00:24.450 --> 00:26.380 we're making do just fine . We're 00:26.380 --> 00:29.330 having beautiful day down here wearing 00:29.330 --> 00:32.410 Alabama . Are you from originally ? Uh 00:32.420 --> 00:34.587 well actually I was born and raised in 00:34.587 --> 00:37.040 Daphne , but I live in midtown mobile 00:37.040 --> 00:40.610 right now . You still have a family 00:40.610 --> 00:44.390 member backing . Uh yeah , actually I 00:44.390 --> 00:47.390 do , my wife Amy ins , a commercial 00:47.390 --> 00:50.040 architecture firm there and uh my 00:50.040 --> 00:53.200 father is Harry Brown who was the mayor 00:53.200 --> 00:56.160 of Daphne for three terms and then uh 00:56.170 --> 00:59.890 my mother is Gloria Brown . Do you have 00:59.890 --> 01:02.960 any Children ? Yeah , Yes , I have one 01:02.960 --> 01:06.460 son . Harry Brown the third . He's too , 01:07.530 --> 01:09.808 I have not seen nothing here right now . 01:09.940 --> 01:12.580 Yeah . What is that ? I'm sorry , but I 01:12.580 --> 01:14.802 know he must be missing you right now . 01:14.840 --> 01:18.130 He is and I'm missing him . It's very 01:18.130 --> 01:20.050 difficult being away for such an 01:20.050 --> 01:24.050 extended period of time . But uh , you 01:24.050 --> 01:26.383 know , I'm hoping that when he is older , 01:26.383 --> 01:28.217 he'll understand that this is an 01:28.217 --> 01:30.328 important thing that his dad is doing 01:30.328 --> 01:33.800 and um you know , we'll be together 01:33.800 --> 01:36.640 again . Um , I understand that you're 01:36.650 --> 01:38.594 training for deployment is an army 01:38.594 --> 01:41.670 broadcast journalist for six . What ? 01:41.670 --> 01:43.892 The fact that there's an army Broadcast 01:43.892 --> 01:47.050 journalists do . Yeah . Uh well of 01:47.050 --> 01:49.960 course , uh we are we are soldiers 01:49.960 --> 01:53.010 First . We're rifleman first and we're 01:53.010 --> 01:55.490 military journalists second ? Our job 01:55.490 --> 01:57.810 is to tell the army story , uh no 01:57.810 --> 02:00.350 matter where that is , we we go out and 02:00.350 --> 02:02.610 we report on the soldiers and what 02:02.610 --> 02:04.666 they're doing in their jobs . And we 02:04.666 --> 02:06.499 put that message back out to the 02:06.499 --> 02:09.200 american people . Mhm . We'd be going 02:09.200 --> 02:12.770 to Iraq when you deploy , we'll we'll 02:12.770 --> 02:15.950 be in support of US Central Command and 02:15.950 --> 02:18.670 we'll work in the 27 countries that 02:18.680 --> 02:20.940 central command supports and that 02:20.940 --> 02:23.490 includes Iraq , Afghanistan , North 02:23.490 --> 02:26.260 Africa and several other nations . 02:27.140 --> 02:29.410 Um look , the situation in the world 02:29.410 --> 02:32.460 right now in congressional support 02:32.470 --> 02:34.581 being what it is , and it seems to be 02:34.581 --> 02:36.803 waning . How do you think this is going 02:36.803 --> 02:39.020 to affect your mission wherever your 02:39.020 --> 02:41.820 mission is going to be ? Thank you . 02:41.830 --> 02:45.800 Well , we uh we 02:45.800 --> 02:47.967 just you know , we we work hard at our 02:47.967 --> 02:51.870 job and we're good at what we do and uh 02:51.880 --> 02:54.180 you know , our job is to go out there 02:54.180 --> 02:57.390 and give it 100% and defend our great 02:57.390 --> 02:59.900 country and not get involved in the 02:59.900 --> 03:03.330 politics back at home were soldiers and 03:03.330 --> 03:05.330 that's what we do . Do you think of 03:05.330 --> 03:07.320 Congress sort of orders , an early 03:07.320 --> 03:09.320 withdrawal of troops ? Do you think 03:09.320 --> 03:11.542 that means the tradition is going to be 03:11.542 --> 03:13.650 cut short and then you'll get to go 03:13.650 --> 03:17.620 home center ? Well , you know , like 03:17.620 --> 03:19.731 I said , we don't get involved in the 03:19.731 --> 03:22.060 political aspect of uh the U . S . 03:22.060 --> 03:24.790 Congress uh we take our orders from our 03:24.790 --> 03:26.901 commanders and we go out there and we 03:26.901 --> 03:29.068 do our mission and we do the best that 03:29.068 --> 03:32.470 we can and we work hard at it . And um 03:32.480 --> 03:35.100 if that means we come home early , then 03:35.100 --> 03:37.100 we come home early . If not we will 03:37.100 --> 03:39.960 stay till the mission is done and we'll 03:39.960 --> 03:42.127 just keep trucking along and doing the 03:42.127 --> 03:45.090 best we can along those lines . What do 03:45.090 --> 03:48.400 you think about the active duty 15 03:48.410 --> 03:51.030 months extension that ? Well , I guess 03:51.030 --> 03:55.030 it's gonna happen . Well , you 03:55.030 --> 03:57.197 know , that's just one of those things 03:57.197 --> 04:00.440 that Like I said , we our job as 04:00.440 --> 04:03.330 soldiers is to go out there and work 04:03.330 --> 04:06.010 hard and uh complete our mission . 04:06.010 --> 04:08.410 Whether that means 12 months , 15 04:08.410 --> 04:10.620 months or three or four years , you 04:10.620 --> 04:12.970 know , we're willing to make this 04:12.970 --> 04:16.420 sacrifice when we signed up . We most 04:16.420 --> 04:18.420 of not all of us signed up during a 04:18.420 --> 04:20.642 time of war . So we really knew what we 04:20.642 --> 04:23.690 were getting into and uh we want to 04:23.690 --> 04:25.690 complete that mission no matter how 04:25.690 --> 04:29.110 long it takes , how do you think that's 04:29.110 --> 04:31.240 going to affect morale uh , there in 04:31.240 --> 04:34.850 your unit ? Yeah , well right now 04:34.850 --> 04:37.480 morale is very high in our unit . Uh , 04:37.490 --> 04:41.230 we're uh , we're a good group of people . 04:41.240 --> 04:44.350 I'm truly blessed to be serving with 04:44.360 --> 04:47.690 the one 31st in pad . Um , everyone is 04:47.690 --> 04:50.400 very supportive of each other . Uh , we 04:50.410 --> 04:53.340 we confide in each other and we trust 04:53.340 --> 04:55.790 each other and I don't see that 04:55.790 --> 04:58.012 changing down the road , uh it's such a 04:58.012 --> 04:59.790 good group where we have a good 04:59.790 --> 05:02.410 cohesive organization that we work well 05:02.410 --> 05:05.040 together and like I said , I think 05:05.050 --> 05:07.370 we're all prepared to uh to see this 05:07.370 --> 05:09.592 thing through and no matter how long it 05:09.592 --> 05:11.759 takes , we'll keep going out there and 05:11.759 --> 05:13.926 give it 100% . There is a part of that 05:13.926 --> 05:16.290 National Guard Reserve in theater troop 05:16.290 --> 05:19.410 surge . What's going on ? Yeah . 05:19.940 --> 05:22.120 Uh well that's that's something that 05:22.120 --> 05:25.610 really I can't really say , you know , 05:25.610 --> 05:28.520 we were on a rotation . We knew that 05:28.520 --> 05:30.810 our deployment was coming and we were 05:30.810 --> 05:33.380 prepared to deploy . We were able to 05:33.390 --> 05:37.300 prepare our families in advance and You 05:37.300 --> 05:39.522 know , so when we were given the orders 05:39.522 --> 05:42.350 to deploy , all of us were aware of 05:42.360 --> 05:44.527 that . We would be leaving and we have 05:44.527 --> 05:46.582 prepared our families for that . Now 05:46.582 --> 05:48.760 the training of receiving their 46 , 05:48.770 --> 05:50.659 such as only broadcast journalist 05:50.659 --> 05:52.992 training or you do other things as well . 05:53.040 --> 05:55.820 Yeah . Uh now , you know , as I stated 05:55.820 --> 05:58.820 earlier , we're rifleman first and 05:58.830 --> 06:01.720 we're getting public affairs refresher 06:01.720 --> 06:03.553 courses , but we're also getting 06:03.553 --> 06:05.664 refresher courses in basic soldiering 06:05.664 --> 06:08.170 task . Um , we're honing our 06:08.170 --> 06:10.490 marksmanship skills . Um , 06:10.490 --> 06:14.050 we're preparing ourselves for 06:14.050 --> 06:16.450 whatever the situation in Iraq or 06:16.450 --> 06:19.180 Afghanistan may lead us to , you know , 06:19.180 --> 06:21.350 we we need to be prepared for whatever 06:21.360 --> 06:23.780 condition may happen because truly in 06:23.780 --> 06:25.891 the war on terror , there are , there 06:25.891 --> 06:27.891 are no front lines and so no matter 06:27.891 --> 06:29.891 what your position , you have to be 06:29.891 --> 06:31.947 prepared to take up a weapon and and 06:31.947 --> 06:34.630 take the fight to the enemy . Okay , 06:34.640 --> 06:36.696 well , I , uh , thank you for taking 06:36.696 --> 06:39.260 all this time to talk with me here . Um , 06:39.640 --> 06:41.890 back in Alabama . Is there anything 06:41.890 --> 06:44.560 you'd like to add before we go ? 06:45.540 --> 06:47.970 Um , I would just like to thank all the 06:47.970 --> 06:50.640 people back in mobile and Baldwin 06:50.640 --> 06:52.730 counties for their support . We've 06:52.730 --> 06:56.140 received numerous letters , especially 06:56.140 --> 06:58.340 like to give thanks to the Children at 06:58.340 --> 07:00.229 Rockwell Elementary School and at 07:00.229 --> 07:02.396 christ the king catholic church . Um , 07:02.396 --> 07:05.420 we've received letters and cards from 07:05.420 --> 07:08.200 them and also we , we each received 07:08.200 --> 07:11.130 Eastern presence and it meant a lot to 07:11.130 --> 07:13.060 us . And I'd just like to ask the 07:13.070 --> 07:15.181 people for their continued support of 07:15.181 --> 07:17.348 the troops . Uh , it means a lot to us 07:17.348 --> 07:20.490 into our families and just thank you 07:20.490 --> 07:22.490 God Bus . Well , thank you . You're 07:22.490 --> 07:25.150 safe . Safe sergeant . Okay . Thank you . 07:25.150 --> 07:28.180 It's great to talk to you . Uh , bye 07:28.180 --> 07:29.250 bye .