Been here for quite a while, but...

[thrasher1016]

Well, I guess I'd never done this, but I've been around for a while, since the old boards and before the KS was @ 50%, so here's who I am (in relation to this game, sorta), skip it if you don't want to get bored...

[spoil]- Brought up by a single mother that loved the outdoors and all things winderness; could set up a tent by the time I could ride a bike (4-ish).

- Entered in to a church group known as Royal Rangers, which is similar to the Boy Scouts, but with religious affiliation. The final graduation from the lifelong program - the Gold Medal of Achievement - is equal to the Eagle Scout honor (at last it was vetted).

Spent my entire youth in that program, with a recorded total of more than 513 nights away from home (overnight excursions), hiked an unverifiable-but-possible-to-guess 15,000+ miles on hundreds of trails around the country, including the entire A-T (in three total segments), the Florida Rim, parts of the MTS in NC, most of the peak approaches in the Smokies and the Appalachians, and several others of note.

Canoeing and kayaking were big too, but less than helpful in a snowy environ. such as this game, so I'll ignore those parts...

Completed a total of 34 nights of survival training and solo survival (28 in one survival "final exam") for the program's varios survival merits, awards, etc.

Graduated with the highest award possible in the program, 5th in my church's history, and also with almost three times the necessary merits earned.

- Left high school and joined the U.S. Air Force as a Special Operations Weather Team candidate, passed basic, initials, Hell Week, selection, and entered the pipeline shortly after the start of the 2004 New Year. Spent nearly 3.5 years in the SOWT (CWX) pipeline, came out with high marks in medium-range engagement and bladed combat (I HEART KNIVES), and passed SERE with flying colors, thanks much to the training I'd had as a child!

Blah, blah, blah....

Was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 where I was dropped into the mountains (far NE of Kabul) not far from our FOB. Myself and our JTG's medic were both wounded on the touchdown, and within an hour of landfall, we were under small arms fire from above, seeing as we had moved to lower ground to attempt to find shelter...

Made it out just fine, was treated and shipped back to the coast, then home (because they weren't sure whither the femur had set correctly).

The Air Force decided to retrain me, and I chose Intelligence, wherein I finished my newest enlistment and then took a discharge option they gave me.

- I am now a civilian, but none the less prepared - if a little out of shape! - for the rigors of life off the grid, even though most of my life revolves around the grid and it's power...

I am a volunteer at the local VA, and work with the Wounded Warrior's Foundation, as well as several charities and companies that teach survival and defense tactics to those that wish to learn and teach their families.

Also:

- HUGE mountain biker and bike riding enthusiast; Big into downhill, freeride, trials, north shore, and all-mountain...

- Developed a great deal of that love (built on what I'd started to ride in FL) riding in Colorado, mainlay around Denver and the resorts.

- Also made it a mission to climb as many fourteeners as I could, and even had to shelter in place on Gray's Peak during a freak snowstorm! (Bagged 21 of the 64 total Fourteeners while I lived there, and I want to get more!)[/spoil]

So I'm glad I'm here, and all of you are too!

I think my kids and wife will actually enjoy this game, or seeing it anyway, when we're not out hiking, on an airboat ride, hog hunting, prepping for turkey or deer season, or just practicing archery or shooting...

All in all, glad to have a place here. 8-)

Thanks - T

[Raphael van Lierop]

Wow, that's quite a resume. Welcome!