User talk:Cougarlover30

My name is Brandon Arguelles. I would like to talk about myself so that others can learn about me and what my plans are for the future. This will be more of an autobiography before someday others can write about me and my accomplishments in life.

I was born March 22, 1979 in Orlando, Fl. I don't necessarily have much very interesting about my childhood, but I grew up in a difficult environment. I barely finished highschool, but while I was there, I was in band, playing the trumpet and in Navy JROTC. I participated in the drill team and commanded the color guard. At the school I went to, I was a minority and I learned how to grow up with a mostly black culture. When I was at home, it wasn't that way as much. I didn't feel like I learned much in school there and I didn't feel like I was challenged enough.

I started going to Valencia Community College in 1999. I initially wanted to major in computer science because I liked to take electronics apart and put it back together. I also went into the Army ROTC which was partnered with the University of Central Florida. After two semesters there, I enjoyed the Army culture. My younger brother came home one day and told me he just enlisted in the Army National Guard. The next day I went to the same recruiter to sign up also.

In June 1999, I went to basic training with my brother at Ft. Benning,Ga., Sandhill, Infantry school D/2-19. It wasn't really war time, so it seemed the Army was trying different things with different training units, but as luck would have it, we were put in the most strict company in the battalion. Notibly, my brother and I scored the 2 highest scores for sit-ups in 2 minutes for our company. My brother did 99 sit ups and I did 98. We were told by the drill sergeants that it was the highest in years, but they are almost always all talk. If someone could confirm that for that time period I'd love to see it. On October 9, 1999, we completed basic training and returned to our unit in Orlando.

www.google.com/s2/profiles/116900841810573158224

www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/brandon/arguelles www.valorsecurity.com/news.html http://genforum.genealogy.com/arguelles/

On September 11, 2001, with the World Trade towers being hit, many sleepy military reservists were called to duty for force protection and possible unit activations. By October 1st, our unit took volunteers to work at the Orlando International Airport and Orlando Sanford Airport to be a show of force and assist in security alongside law enforcement and the screeners. Thankfully we had no major incidents while we were there. The duty lasted for six months before another unit took over.

On December 26, 2003 at approximately 12pm, I got a phone call from my unit that we recieved orders to report to the armory for a deployment. I had to talk with my manager, who was a special forces veteran to tell him the bad news. By February 15 we were on a plane on our way to the middle east. We had a stop in Shannon, Ireland and then to Jordan. Our destination was secret because Jordan is considered a neutral country a military invasion force would not look good on their soil. The base housed mostly special forces, air force and medical. We were attached to the 5th Special Forces Group as a back up when they got into trouble. Our last ten months or so was spent in Baghdad at the Green Zone area. We were housed in the Convention Center(convention palace). It was across the street from the Al-Rashid Hotel. We mostly were at checkpoints checking ID's and letting in civilian contractors working for the government. We had a vehicle checkpoint that thankfully never saw an explosion. While there, there were many rocket attacks nearby and mortars. In one attack, an insurgent pulled what looked like a generator trailer across the street from the Al-Rashid Hotel and parked it. I was told that our observation point saw this and tried to contact the observation point at the hotel but it was too late. The man parked the trailer, charged it with a battery and 41 rockets launched out of it, hitting the hotel. Since I was a qualified combat lifesaver, I went with a group from our unit to assist. This is where I saw real war casualties for the first time. Four of us pulled one soldier down on a litter who was hit by a rocket. His injuries were too severe to survive. I can't remember exactly how many flights of stairs we were up, but everything seemed to happen so quick. February 16, 2004 we arrived back in Savannah, GA. We were taken to a gym at Ft. Stewart where we marched in proudly and were dismissed to meet with our families. I was so nervous and excited at the same time. As I stood there looking for my family, I couldn't focus and I just stood in place and let them come to me.

I returned to work in March. I was promoted to a supervisor position. Months later I was considered for a Director of Security position at a shopping mall. I took the job and stayed there for about a year and half. I found the job was very stressful and might have required a little more experience in management rather than just supervisory experience. I decided that I would go back to college and work on a business degree. I left the job January 2, 2006.

During 2004, our National Guard unit was called a lot for hurricanes. One significant hurricane, Katrina hit between New Orleans and Biloxi Mississippi in 2005. I volunteered as part of a group with Valor Security to assist with securing the Edgewater Mall in Biloxi. The mall is only separated by a small highway from the beach and it was flooded. There was also a neighborhood behind it with one of the mall access roads leading into it. We assisted the neighborhood by closing the access to only the residents, disaster recovery and National Guard. Being from Florida, I was used to seeing the damage of high winds, but never a storm surge. The mall had at least 2 feet of water inside which drained once the storm surge was gone. November 2005, I met my current wife. By January 12, 2006 I began working full time with another company at a computer software company doing security work. After about four months, I realized that I wasn't making enough money to live comfortably and I returned to my orginal job as a regular security officer part time.

By June 2007, I finally started going to college again. I began attending Mountain State University. Their main campus is in Beckeley, West Virginia. The campus I went to was located in Altamonte Springs, Fl. The class was called Organizational Leadership. It is a focused degree on leadership in an organization, not necessarily a business management degree. I am still currently going there and expect to finish in the first half of 2010. I am however planning to move into a Masters degree and then a Doctoral.

In the summer of 2008, I began a more ambitious track to building a wealth of knowledge in history and government. I started volunteering on Saturday mornings at the Orange County Regional History Center as a docent(tour guide). I learned a lot about Florida's history and Central Florida history. I also am using it as a tool to network with others in government and the history profession. I am very interested in world history and how it has shaped our modern world. I don't see the world through a telescope, but as a whole. I feel that every culture has had its positive impact and its negative impact in history. The most important thing is that history is recorded truthfully and honorably.

I also began working on my homeowners association board. This is another great way to meet my community leaders and network. I plan to eventually work in the government and move into an elected position in the future. I don't know how far I will go, or want to go, but I will let God place the path before me and follow it the best that I can.