Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
In Long Beach, California Dustin Lara was the fifth of six sons born to his parents. The four brothers older than him each joined the US Army. The oldest was deployed to Kuwait and would call home when he could. At age 12, Dustin was in on the phone conversations. He heard the reports of war and in a way, prepared to be a part of it then.
His parents emigrated from Mexico and became American citizens. The children were then first generation American citizens. They knew that if they worked hard, and smart, and persisted, good things would happen. The second oldest brother was deployed to Kosovo when the Kosovo’s governing officials performed ethnic cleansing. He too called home and Dustin heard of what was going on.
The third oldest brother was in the Army at Fort Bragg, NC. He was a member of one of the famous units permanently stationed there, the 82nd Air Borne Division. This brother gave Dustin the advice of how to get through Initial Entry Training (IET), and Advanced Individual Training (AIT).
At age 17, Dustin had graduated from high school and made contact with the local US Army recruiter. Dustin did well on the testing and decided that his best option was to go into the medic field. It had so much more to offer at the end of one’s enlistment. He could become an EMT or CNA, or perform most any second tier work in the medical field.
Dustin was all set. His flight to Columbia, South Carolina and the bus ride on to Fort Jackson, ended when a couple of soldiers boarded the bus to welcome the new soldiers-in-training. The English language instantly changed in its expressive wording and inflections. Loudly, the Drill Sergeants asserted their authority to let these new people know that they were low forms of humanity. Finally, the Drill Sergeants got them off the bus and into a formation so that things could get moving. Dustin knew exactly what to expect…this would be no big deal. Having been a trained boxer earlier, this was going to be kinda easy.
One problem early-on was at the mess hall. Dustin loved food. Any food was just fine. In the basic training environment, the Drill Sergeants “encouraged” new soldiers to shovel the food in and get out of the building and into formation. Seeing all that good food not eaten bothered this soldier.
Dustin’s attitude carried the day for him through IET. He was a confident young man who knew stuff. Other new soldiers would come to him for advice and training so they could get it right. The training there was formatted now for the coed environment. Dustin was a busy man.
Basic training came to an end. Family from the east coast made it to his graduation exercises. Next was AIT at Fort Sam Houston, TX. The school for becoming a medic began. There could be a social life again and Dustin took it in. Medic training plus the combat-specific part of the curriculum was 16 weeks.
Next stop, Fort Benning, Georgia where men and women learn to jump out of perfectly good aircraft! Even though his brothers had told him there would be “nothing to it”… it really wasn’t going to be that easy! He got through it fine. A great Can-do attitude takes one a long ways!
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