My MCBS Story

By: Ryan Brooks

Before I started the MCBS Program I served as a Cavalry Scout in the US Army.

After working numerous dead end jobs, I had joined the army in 2007 hoping to change my

life for the better.

In January of that year I was shipped to Fort Knox Kentucky, where I was to complete

eighteen weeks of basic training.

I was then sent to Fort Lewis Washington as my first duty station.

I remember thinking to myself that I wanted to be a career soldier; I loved the camaraderie, the

intense physical training, the challenges, and basic every day life in the military.

But that all changed when I deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.

In July 2009, I was on the ground in Kandahar, Afghanistan; my one-year deployment with the

8-1 Cavalry, 5th Stryker Brigade was only just beginning.

On August 11, 2009, an improvised explosive device struck the Stryker Reconnaissance

Vehicle I was riding in; it was my platoon’s first daylight mission.

I was lucky enough not to have been hurt; however, others on my vehicle were not as lucky.

I remember thinking to myself that the Taliban, Al Qaeda, or whoever the “bad guys” were had

messed with the wrong guy, and that I was going to get payback.

But over the next nine months, the tasks we were assigned and the missions we were told to complete were not making sense.

Training the Afghans, risking our lives to help build up a nation of people that despised us and didn’t want our

help at all was very demoralizing.

I started to question why I was over there, and I questioned what the true purpose of the United

States being in Afghanistan really was.

When I returned home from my deployment, I was devastated, and I didn’t want to be a soldier

any longer.

I got out of the Army in December 2011, and after having time to relax and be with family, I

decided to start speaking out about the atrocities of war.

I started my own radio show in 2012 to tell the truth about my experiences in Afghanistan, and to be a voice for the voiceless: the veterans that are cheered on to war and forgotten by their country

when they come home.

Doing the radio show for the past two years has created a passion in me for media.

I love how an old medium like radio can still be used to reach out and touch someone else, possibly even change their life for the better.

It’s safe to say that ever since I decided to pursue my passion for media my life has gotten a whole lot

safer, and one day I hope to use the knowledge I learn here at Full Sail to help me become better at

spreading the message of peace.