His motivation

In case you don't know my husband well I will fill you in on a bit of his life and his dreams. Since he was old enough to show a preference to toys or themes for toys he has shown a strong interest in the military. From playing religiously with G.I. Joes, to begging his mom to read to him about military and military equipment from the encyclopedia...the interest has always been there! I think he always expected to graduate from college and begin a career in the military, a lifetime career in the military. When college wasn't going so well for him he decided to go ahead and enlist as a reservist to both take some time off and get someone other than his parents to pay for the remainder of college. He chose the Marine Corps for his career path. I remember him being so excited and so proud of this decision! He lived and breathed this decision from the second he made it (he did a lot of research and soul searching before he settled on a military branch) until the second things changed.

On the evening he reported to his assigned hotel room for his testing the following morning he was anxious and excited. I talked to him several times that evening and the following morning. He woke up, when they woke him, and he reported to his aptitude test (not sure if that's the right name, but you get the idea) and totally kicked butt on it! His recruiter told us his was the highest score their office had ever turned in! They were stoked to have someone so intelligent and wanted to get him started right away! They told him he would report to boot camp in a few days, instead of a couple of months like they had previously agreed upon. Needless to say that change made him REALLY nervous. They gave him this piece of information as he was proceeding to his physical exam! They started the exam with blood pressure testing. I'm sure you can guess it was off the charts! They kept testing it and it remained high as he was becoming increasingly nervous about the change of date and the fact that his blood pressure was high. They turned him away based on the blood pressure readings! What a loss for the USMC, but what a blessing for me!

This was spring of 1997! Can you just imagine how much his life would have changed being a reservist in the USMC post 911? Wow! The lord works in mysterious ways!

Greg's never really gotten over this urge to have a career in the military, I think he's always felt like this was missing. Now that he's too old to enlist in the United States Armed Forces he found the Texas State Guard; they have completely different requirements :)

Just this week we were watching an old movie TAPS (I think that's the name of it) with Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, and many other now famous actors. The movie is about a military academy and the young men who attend it. During the movie Greg made the comment to me that he should have gone to a military academy and said it kind of longingly. Obviously he is glad he didn't go to one and had the chance to grow up with his sisters and all the friends instead, but it is evidence of a strong calling he has to the military.

That's Coropral Hinckley to you!

My wonderful and amazing husband has decided to enlist in the Texas State Guard! I am so very proud of him and this decision! Just in case you don't know what the TXSG is, just like we didn't about a month ago, here is a brief description taken from their website:
The Texas State Guard (TXSG) is one of three branches of the Texas Military Forces (TXMF), reporting to The Texas Adjutant General located at Texas Military Forces HQ, Camp Mabry (Austin), Texas. The Commander in Chief of the Texas Military Forces is the Governor of Texas. The other two branches are the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG) and the Texas Air National Guard (TXANG).

I have been wanting to post this for several weeks now, but have not really known what to say. There is such a range of emotions and a wealth of information... so for this post I'll just stick with the facts as best I know them:

• This is a volunteer group, so unless he is called up to active duty there will be no pay
• He will report for his first day of training and be sworn in next Saturday, the 25th of April
• Almost all training takes place on the weekends, so it won't interfere with his paying career too much
• He has already been rewarded the rank of Corporal. We're not sure what exactly that's based on, but know his college degree and Eagle Scout rank have something to do with it.
• he is a part of the 2nd (something...battalion, platoon, unit....????) based out of Arlington
• He WILL NOT be assigned a weapon, unless on active duty and absolutely necessary. He will be trained on a 9mm (I think)
• Most often he will be called to active duty as a result of a natural disaster (flood, hurricane, tornado, etc)
• Last year they were called to active duty three times. Two of these times were just for a couple of days and the third was for two weeks...Hurricane Ike. Most years they are not called this often and most times they will not stay two weeks.
• They report to the State, so it is not likely for him to be sent out of state, much less out of the country...but the TXSG does reserve that right.
• From the sounds of it when he is on active duty he will be running storm or medical shelters or assisting in securing areas. I'm under the impression he will be working closely with the Red Cross and with the National Guard...but that's just an impression.
• He will be required to wear military uniform. We have not yet purchased this (they're not supplied to them, can you believe that ?!?!) so I don't have any pictures...but trust me, they will be coming!

I think that's all the facts I have as of right now. I will be writing posts about my feelings and his experiences as I am able. In the meantime...I'm very proud of Greg and his desire to serve others in this way!