CAREERS & JOBS

My name is Sergeant Brian Vander Werf; my MOS is 68 Whiskey, I'm from Tempe, Arizona. I'm a medic in the Army Reserve and I work as a student researcher at the Bio-Design Institute at Arizona State University.

In the larger sense we're trying to look for new ways to diagnose Breast Cancer. We have discovered small proteins or peptides that bind these sugar structures and as it turns out when cells become cancerous these change and the Army has certainly taught us that you need to pay close attention to the smallest details and you absolutely need that if your working in the scientific field.

My name is Mark Trent Pombo; I'm a Petroleum Supply Specialist. As a result I learned a whole lot about fuel. When I'm not in the Army Reserve I'm an accountant and also a racecar driver.

At the accounting firm I'm with I joined the motor fuels team. Half of my learning curve was gone when I got there because I know what fuel goes in what kind of vehicles and what kind of engines.

It just made my life a lot easier when I got to work. One of my co-workers who started around the same time as me, we were just sitting there talking about some of the fuel we saw on an invoice and it said mogas (motor gasoline) on there and he'd been looking at it for 2-hours and he came right over to me and I told him immediately it that same thing it's an 89 octane its basically like buying your premium.

So there's some little things I'm able to bring to work that probably nobody else wasn't in the Army Reserve would be able to do.

My name is Allison Courtemache; my MOS is 25 Lima and I'm a Cable Systems Operator Maintainer. Some of the things I'm responsible for is setting up fiber optic lines as well as Cat5 and that can include Internet as well as phone lines. It can be intimidating at times because you see so many wires and you don't know where they all go to, what server, what room, you don't know whether it's a live or not.

The skills that I've acquired in the Army Reserve definitely do play a big role in my civilian life. I have more motivation to finish school to get the career that I want and the job that I want and not only get that job but succeed within that job.

Being a medic in the Army Reserve has absolutely been a stepping-stone it comes off in every job interview that I have. People want to know the patients that I've seen, what responsibilities I had. I don't think I could have been as successful if it wasn't for the Army Reserve.

Without the Army Reserve I definitely wouldn't have the accounting job right now. The guy that was interviewing me told me right when I walked in that your Army experience and that fact that you were deployed going to get you this position.

It's your future, stay strong in the Army Reserve. Visit GoArmy.com/reserve.