Erik Holt

raw, raw young kid, you know?

And then I was stationed over in Germany, you know, right when I got there basically.

So it's crazy because my first experience in like regular army unit was assigned to post, you know, phone duty.

I forget what they call it, but it was the night they raided Fallujah, and my base was 2-2 infantry, so they had, like, the north side of Fallujah.

And so I'm, like, in regular Army unit for a week, and I'm taking, you know, next-of-kin notification calls, and I'm like, holy—you know?

Yeah.

And then we were on deployment order, so, like, a year later, you know, we did our train-up and stuff, and I just went along with it.

I mean, I had fun in everything I did.

I took everything on with—

you know, full passion, but I didn't really know the greater army.

I just did, but I was told.

Yeah.

After deployment, I got to see like other units, you know?

So again, I was in Ramadi.

So all those guys, you know, SEAL Team Bruiser are famous now, but like we saw them and they were like gods walking around.

So I was interested in it.

But as soon as I got back, my, you know, my oldest daughter was conceived and it was like, all right, well.

I'm going to be a responsible dad.

We PCS to Fort Hood, Texas, and I finally got to see a fire station my last nine months in the Army.

So I got out in 08 and started doing firefighting for Fort Hood.