Today's feel-good story

[Monty Python]

Feelings about HPSP aside, here's a nice story of a former NCO of the Year graduating Old Dominion and heading to WRNMMC. Impressive that he has the EFMB, Airborne, and Air Assault insignia.

Former Army Reserve NCO of the Year Commissions as Medical Doctor

NORFOLK, Va. — Former Army Reserve 1st Lt. Carlo Deldonno, once named the Army Reserve’s Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, celebrated two major milestones this week: earning his doctorate in medicine and being promoted to captain in the U.S. Army’s active component. Deldonno will begin his...

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[armytrainingsir]

That really is an awesome story.

I know active duty medicine understandably doesn’t have the greatest reputation here anymore, but that said, stories like this and programs like EMDP2 really warm my heart.

Enlisting in the military can open a world of opportunities that many wouldn’t have much of a shot at without Uncle Sam, and such programs that can vault soldiers to graduate degrees are a good thing.

My dad grew up dirt poor in an alcoholic family in the rural south. He enlisted in the Navy to escape all that when he turned 18. While in the Navy, he saw the tangible results of hard work, education, and bettering oneself, which prompted him to go to college after his enlistment ended. It completely changed the trajectory of his life.

And a generation later, HPSP positively changed mine. And yet another generation, the reserves paid for my son in laws PA school.

And for all that the military has done for my family the past 75+ years (not even beginning to factor in my WWII and Vietnam war relatives), I’ll always be grateful.