Dear Mikey,

I have belonged to the military for almost 14 years now.  Originally joined for the college money, as funny as that sounds.  I graduated college while serving in the National Guard for the first few years.  After September 11 happened I decided to go active and have been active ever since.  I love what I do and wouldn't change my past decisions for any reason.  With approximately 6 years to go before my 20 year letter, there isn't much that would make me get out (unless I hit the lottery or something).  I have the support of my family (110%) especially while deployed, and that makes a huge difference.  We came home from Iraq earlier this year after spending a year working along side of the Special Forces. Our unit was tasked to pull security for CJSOTF (combined joint special operations task force) from the bases/team houses to mission security.  It was never boring to say the least!

Interesting story...  While the train up to go to Iraq one of our
instructors gave us some advice.  During your whole military career you train for combat.  Throughout 100% of your training in the military you will always have someone there next to you insuring you do the right thing, correctly, helping you along if needed.  From rifle qualification to the most complicated of ranges; there is always either a range NCOIC/OIC there. In combat there is you and the guy next to you.  No do over's, no OIC/NCOIC insuring your making the right decisions.  This is where the men are separated from the boys.  Some people just can't handle it and freeze, snap, or brake... Others shine.  You never know who it's going to be or when. I kept this in mind every time I left the compound, insuring to stay calm and trying to anticipate every move/decision and its potential consequences if any.  I believe because of this advice it's helped me and our soldiers come back alive.  I don't want to sound like a drama queen, but in the end there
is a lot of responsibility on the leaders in combat and making the right decision and staying calm is key to success.

In the end I am glad to be home with my wife and kids, enjoying them as they grow.  My son loves my RC Heli and always wants to fly it.  His skills are not so good, but as he matures so will his proficiency.  Currently I have
the Walkera 4#3Q and a crappy duel prop heli (don't remember the name of it).  I am interested in the 450 t-rex from your site and will ask the wife to purchase this as a Christmas gift :).  As fun as the walkera is indoors it is absolutely the worst heli for outdoors.  I am hoping the 450 will fix this problem plus having a heli that you can acquire parts for easy is key.

I want to thank Mikey's RC for all the great instructional videos from how to fly to how to build.  It's great having people take time out of their
busy lives to help others for no fee.  There isn't enough of that in our world today and it's a great example to set for others.

Sincerely,
- An RC Enthusiast and active serviceman SSG M.C.