2LT Thompson: English Camp

SPC Mesner: English Camp from IRON BDE on Vimeo.

**This post has the below text and photos on Flickr by 2LT Thompson, and the above video was shot by SPC Mesner. Great job by all

Today I was witness to a truly unique and important day at the motor pool of 2-9 Infantry. We had civilian guests in our motorpool and those guests were children from a local national school. We had the privilege of presenting the equipment of our Combined Arms battalion to a collective group of over 20 Korean students and a select group of USO personnel. What made the day both unique and important was how the students interacted with their trainers. Many of these children have never seen an M1A1 tank, or a Bradley fighting vehicle. This in of itself is a privilege to see up close. What made this day important was summed up by Mr. James Allen, Manager of the USO at Camp Casey. Most of these children have never even been inside the post and most only saw Camp Casey as a brick wall and wire. The smiles and laughter, coupled with the interaction our soldiers had with these children showed how our relationship with our host nation has and continues to be an important and vital piece to our service here in Korea. As a Manchu, I was happy to have been selected to record a side of the Army some never get to see. At 2-9 Infantry our motto is “keep up the fire”. This applies to everything we do whether in combat, training, or in our relationship with the Korean people we must always keep working hard to be a strong partner and friend to this great nation.

2LT Jonathan Thompson
B CO FSO/2-9 Infantry
Minneapolis, MN