Interview

Alan Gronewold , Interviewed by Emma Fehrenbacker, 2017

 
INTERVIEW LOG
 
Name of person(s) interviewed: Alan Gronewold
 
Other people present: Autumn Fehrenbacker
 
Researcher: Emma Fehrenbacker
 
Date of interview: May 25, 2017
 
Location of interview: National Guard in Pendleton
 
Special conditions (noise, interruptions, etc.): There are some people walking by and talking
 
General description of contents: How and why he joined the Army, what life was like in the service, and what life is like still working for US Army.
 
Length of interview:  13:34
 
TOPIC SUMMARY
 
Time & Contents

00:00-00:05
Introduction of who he is.
 
00:05-00:30
How he joined the US Army and why he joined.

00:30-00:51
What branch he is in, and why he chose this branch

00:52-01:19
His first days in service

01:20-02:08
His boot camp and training experience

02:09-02:58
The different wars he served in
His arrival to the different places
 
02:59-04:24
His jobs or assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan

04:25-05:44
His most memorable experiences

05:46-05:59
What medals he had been awarded and how he get them

06:00-06:12
He talks about how he stayed in touch with his family

06:13-06:45
He describes what the food was like

06:46-06:53
He talks about whether or not he had plenty of supplies
 
06:54-7:29
He talks about stress he felt while deployed

07:30-07:50
He talks about what he did for good luck

07:51-08:21
He talks about how they entertains themselves

08:22-08:31
He talks about what he did on leave

08:32-09:11
He talks about humorous events that happened, and whether or not they pulled pranks. He also talks about whether or not he has pictures

09:12-09:28
His thoughts on his fellow officers

09:29-05:56
He talks about the personal diary he kept

09:58-11:28
He talks about what did after he got back from each deployment

11:28-12:12
He talks more about his schooling. He also talks about how he decided to make being in the military a career.

12:13-12:28
He talks about the friendship he has made in the service.
 
12:29-13:11
He talks about how his military experience changed the way he views the military. He also talks about how the military has affected his life.

13:12-13:34
He gives us a final thought about his military experience

Mr. Alan Gronewold 
Interviewed by Emma Fehrenbacker, 2017

Alan Gronewold grew up in Montevideo, Minnesota, which is a small farming town.  He voluntarily joined the US Army because he wanted an affordable way to go to college. He attended the U.S. Military Academy, where you can attend school for free, but you have to work in the military for at least six years afterwards. He went to flight school where he actually had to stay in the military for six years. After his six years he decided to continue in the military for a career. 

Before Alan decided to stay in the military for a career, he had actually wanted to go to the US Naval Academy. He was not accepted into the US Naval Academy. Instead he was accepted in to the US Military Academy so he ended up being in the army. For him, being in the military was a big change because he had grown up in a small town. Everything about the military was very different from what he had known his whole life.

The first eight weeks of his boot camp consisted of waking up very early, doing lots of exercises, getting his hair cut, and learning how to be a soldier. He still remembers his instructors, some of them he says he will probably never forget. To get through boot camp he just took the days as they came.

Alan has been deployed to combat three different times. He was first deployed to Iraq, and the US Army had not yet invaded Iraq so in February he landed in Kuwait. It was very cold at night but warm in the day time. Alan said that you could actually smell the air, which smelt of ocean air and smoke from oil refineries.

He was a production control officer for an aviation maintenance unit, where he received all of the aircraft off of ships and built them up in a port in Kuwait for support in Iraq. After this they were sent into Iraq. Then he was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was an aviation maintenance company commander. In this role he was stationed in Kandahar and they provided support to about 40 different helicopters. He was also a Blackhawk mission pilot. The third time Alan was actually an Oregon National Guardsman, instead of being in active duty like his other two deployments. In this third deployment, he was the executive officer for a fixed wing battalion, which had cargo planes that flew cargo all over Iraq.

One of his most memorable experiences was while he stationed in Germany and Korea. Another one would also be his time in Iraq. One thing he will never forget was when he was getting ready to invade Iraq,  another soldier had a burner out and they all made instant coffee. He also met his wife while he was in Germany. For good luck he had a Catholic prayer card that was given to him by his German neighbor that he kept in his pocket.

​Once Alan was done with each of his deployments he had two to three weeks leave, and then he would go back to work, and Alan is still currently in the US Army.

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