Imagine having a work-life under some of the most restrictive and tightly secured conditions in the United States government. Every morning you check into a windowless facility with layers of security, often with a concertina-wired perimeter, and spend the majority of your workday away from sunlight, sorting through numerous safe combinations, passwords, and documents of the highest sensitive nature. You come home day after day, deprived of those intimate conversations with your spouse about the details of your day. You must harbor secrets that if ever shared with those you love would create breach of security ending one’s career, and if placed in the wrong hands, could compromise the security of our national defense.

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1st Lieutenant Stephen Morgan

Brotherhood: a feeling of fellowship and sympathy for other people; an organization of men who are united for a common purpose. How many of us are privileged enough to have that special connection with a man that allows us to call him “brother?” It is human nature for us to cling to a kindred spirit with whom we can bond and share the troubles that we often encounter throughout life. It comforts us; it provides a channel of relief. It was this ironclad relationship that brought 1st Lieutenant Stephen Morgan through some of his most challenging moments both overseas and on the home front.

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Staff Sergeant Tim Woods joined the active duty Army on August 10, 1999. After ten years of dedicated service and two deployments to Iraq in 2003 and 2007, SSG Smith decided to join the Arkansas Army National Guard on February 27, 2009. He recalls his first days of service as if it were yesterday; expressing the immense pride of starting anew and moving forward in his military career.

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“Their culture isn’t so different. The world is much smaller. We are closer to people than we think.”

Chief Warrant Officer Cornelius Charles joined the Army National Guard on July 26, 1990. Originally from McGehee, Arkansas, he enlisted in search of better opportunities and hopes of furthering his schooling through military educational funding.

On his 2005 tour to Iraq, Charles learned just how small the world really is. “Being able to serve and the gratitude from the people when you’re in uniform makes you feel proud,” he says. The one of a kind experience of helping people who needed him taught him discipline and leadership.

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At the young age of 16, Lex “Butch” Davis signed up for the United States Army in 1961 and served two tours of duty in Korea and one tour in Vietnam. Davis’ company was on patrol near Chulai in South Vietnam on July 12, 1969. They’d had frequent firefights with the Viet Cong and captured several of them that summer. “I lied about my age,” he admits. Butch was 24 years old when he was hit and has been in pain for 38 years. You can only imagine his injuries — almost his whole body was ripped up, and he seems disabled along much of his left side — but Davis never complains.

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