SGT. BRAD HOTTELL

Brad Hottell said, "The military changed my life."

Brad graduated from Kimball High School in 2003 with no direction or "zero goals" in mind, but circumstances led him to enlist in the U.S. Army before his graduation. He left for Fort Knox, Kentucky, and basic training shortly after graduation. Landing in Fort Knox was the first time Brad had been outside of Nebraska.

After basic training, he was assigned to live at Fort Lewis, Washington, until deployments. He said, "All the units I was with could deploy within 24 hours."

War was raging in Iraq and Afghanistan, and when he enlisted, they "straight up told" him he would probably be deployed to a war zone. Brad explained that his big deployment was to Iraq from October 2004 to November 2005, which lasted 13 months. That deployment stands out in his mind and changed everything.

Other shorter deployments occurred before and after his "big one." A 90-day deployment in early 2004, to Afghanistan was known as QRF, Quick Reaction Force. They secured an outpost area. He compared it to a Nexflix movie called "Outpost" and he shrugged it off as not a lot of fighting. "Nobody ever emptied a magazine," he said.

Later, the 13-month deployment began in October 2004. His unit, the 25th Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade, was sent to Mosul, Iraq. They then participated in the "second take back of Fallujah" and then went on to Tal Afar. 

In June 2004, the 25th infantry division, Stryker Brigade, was sent to the Syrian-Turkish border with a "mission to stop the supply of war materials and freedom fighters from entering the main cities of Iraq." Brad said that he was a dismount, describing the experience. Brad explained that each vehicle or Stryker had a driver, gunner, and truck commander and two dismounts per truck. "Dismounts do the raids, looking for weapons and the bad guys," he said.

"All those little towns (on the border) had zero American presence, and all those little towns were packed with freedom fighters," he said. "We would just show up to a town, fight, leave, and keep circling," Brad explained that they would get hit a lot, vehicles get destroyed, and they suffered casualties. Continuing with his experience, he said they were ready for us with IEDs, and the buildings were booby-trapped." The Stryker vehicle that Brad was in got blown up 14 different times; it would be repaired and put back into service.

"The fighting was intense the year I was in Iraq, and many good soldiers were lost within the Platoon, Troop, and Brigade," Brad admitted.

From late June until November, the conditions near the border were complex, and their living conditions were wretched. They lived in the vehicles, survived on MRE, and rationed water. Supplies were dropped from helicopters. He was able to take a shower only three times from June until November.

Brad shared, "A soul graduating from KHS, with zero goals in mind, the future was not bright. The military provided discipline, guidance, and forced weaning from Mommy and Daddy. It made me who I am today, the good and the bad. I can say that I am truly proud of what the United States Military did for me." Without the U.S. Army, he questions where he would be.

He said he was awarded three Army achievement awards, right below the Bronze Star level.

After the military, Brad attended school in Milford, Nebraska, studying HVAC. Today, he works for Daikin and does technical response. Brad is married to Nikki and has four children.