Gonzales goes global

Christian Gonzales, a 2015 Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School graduated, has recently come back to Hanna after serving his country from 2016 until the beginning of this month.

Gonzales said when he graduated HEM, he went into the work force, but after several months, he felt a call to join the armed forces.

After looking into his options, Gonzales settled on the Army.

"The Army was a good fit for me," Gonzales said. "I wanted to go into communications and found myself being stationed at Fort Gordon in Georgia."

Fort Gordon houses the headquarters for the Army Cyber School and the Signal School. The Signal School focuses primarily on communications technology that is currently being utilized by the Army.

Gonzales said as he was getting processed out of his training, he was deployed to an army base in Kuwait for four months.

"At first it was a little hectic because, as soon as I got out of school and got assigned to my first unit, I didn't know anybody and I had to learn everyone's name," Gonzales said. "I was thrown right into the mix right from the beginning."

He said the first month in Kuwait was validating the equipment to make sure it was in working order before being deployed into a combat area.

"I provided the communications and internet for the entire unit," Gonzales said. "I was in Bravo company and worked with about 70 members."

After being in Kuwait for four months, he was one of eight from his unit deployed to Afghanistan.

"The main base I was stationed there was Kandahar," Gonzales said. "I would go on missions from there. I guess I went on about 10 different mission to FOBs (Forward Operating Base). There was usually about 50 people in a FOB. The FOBs were there to show a presence to the country."

He said the FOBs were in an area that was considered a combat zone.

"The FOBs ranged in size from about a football field to two football fields," Gonzales said. "They had to be large enough for us to land the different aircraft. To these bases, I went by Chinooks, Blackhawks and sometimes a C-130, that is an airplane."

Once he got to the bases, he would set up the communications.

"We had about eight boxes of equipment and they weighed from 100 to 150 pounds each," Gonzales said, "It was a mission to get it up and running, but the more I went to the different bases, I got faster."

He said the bases were well fortified for the personnel inside. The most dangerous aspect of being at a FOB was taking the trash out to a designated area outside.

"We would have to go into full 'battle rattle' gear and with our weapons," Gonzales said.

His main exposure to the locals was the translators at the FOBs.

"I became friends with a lot of them and they would ask me if I wanted real food as I got to know them," Gonzales said. "I learned to eat lamb there. It was really good food, too."

He said each base meant getting to know new translators and they were friendly.

"We just carried on normal conversations, nothing political at all," Gonzales explained.

He said the countryside he was in reminded him of New Mexico or northern Wyoming with all its mountains.

After five months in Afghanistan he eventually returned to Fort Gordon.

When his years were up, he decided he wanted to come back to Wyoming.

"I realized that I might miss the army, so I enlisted in the Wyoming National Guard," Gonzales said. "This way I can still serve the country."

He said going into the army was beneficial for him.

"I am glad to be called a veteran," Gonzales concluded.