[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by dcrookston

Hello.

I am 35 years old. I grew up in the midwest in a very VERY conservative religious family. When I was 19 I took a religious leader's advice to "go west, young man" (yes he literally said that) to attend college. After school I lost my religion, founded a small company, and worked as a Computer Guy. At 27 I realized that my life was horrifically empty so I enlisted as an 18X, promptly failed selection, and served the rest of my contract in aviation which I ended up loving.

I deployed to Iraq in 2010-2011 as a UAV crew chief; it was a pleasure and an honor to maintain the safety and op status of the aircraft that overflew several dozen missions.

To be perfectly clear, I served entirely in a support role and I am not and never have been a Special Forces team member.

I currently live on the east coast and study international relations at a prominent university on the Charles river. Most of my posts here will relate to international relations, and your perspective on them. Most of the things I'm asking are for my personal curiosity, but occasionally I may want to get someone's perspective for a paper I'm working on. I understand that this raises concerns, so here are a few disclaimers:

• Nothing I ask about here will ever be used in any publication unless specifically stated, and unless the poster gives specific permission for me to use it.
• I always assume that permission granted on one statement does not extend to any other statement, regardless of context.
• If I include any content from this forum in anything I intend to publish, I will always give the person cited a chance to review my work for clarity before publication.
• As always, I speak only for myself and not for any institution of which I am a member.

If there are any other rules or caveats that I need to abide by, I'm more than happy to learn what they are and stick to them both in letter and spirit.

Thank you for running this forum and giving us the opportunity to interact with the SF community.

UAV crew chief, is that like a Cruise Missile Test Pilot?

Welcome aboard.

I look forward to your discussions concerning "international relations"......especially since you are attending a Boston area college/university.......