I was stationed at the Base Aérea de Torrejón from 1989-1994.
Best assignment in the Air Force.

Army National Guard 2006-2012. Medic and combatives instructor.

30 year Air Force veteran. Aircraft electrical/environmental technician. Loved the AF. Retired back in 2011. Retired permanently Oct 2025 and started jiu jitsu at 63. Just got my second stripe on my white belt. It's a pleasure meeting my fellow military brothers and sisters!!

Welcome William! I was a jet engine mech in the Navy, just gotta love avation. I still work in the field since I got out in 94. Now that you are fully retired, you can train more :) !

Hey Professor, Thank you for your service!! I have a lot of good friends who are jet engine mechanics. I attend all 3 morning classes and 8 night classes our gym holds. And I go to open mat on Sat. I have a lot of catching up to do!!

I said train more, not destroy yourself! LOL

In my favor, I have a sauna I use about 5-6 days a week, I have a cold plunge I also use 6 days a week and a massage chair I use at a minimum once per day. Most times, twice a day. It makes a huge difference!!

Since the question came up about who here has served in the military, I thought I’d share a little about my background.

I enlisted in the Army in 1993 as a Military Police officer and did that for about four and a half years. From there, I applied for and was accepted into CID (Criminal Investigation Division). After reaching about the 10-year mark in my career, I attended Warrant Officer Candidate School and continued my CID career as a warrant officer, starting as a WO1 and eventually retiring as a CW4.

Altogether, I served 23 years and retired in 2016. Physical fitness was always a big part of my military career, and I consistently scored 300 on the Army Physical Fitness Test.

My CID career gave me the opportunity to do a little bit of everything. I served as a Special Agent in Charge (SAC) over several offices and as a team chief for drug suppression, general crimes, and economic crimes. I also spent more than a year doing protective-service work.

I had three year-long deployments/assignments away from home: Afghanistan, where I served as a CID agent; Kuwait; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. My career also involved moving my family every two or three years. We lived in many different places throughout the United States, as well as Korea and Hawaii.

Jiu-jitsu actually became part of my life while I was still serving. I was introduced to it at age 42 by a blue belt named Ephraim Velasquez. In my opinion, Ephraim was a prodigy. I watched him handle people with much higher belt rankings, including black belts, and seeing that convinced me that jiu-jitsu really worked. That inspired me to start training, and 17 years later, I’m still doing it.

Today I live in Centerville, Utah, and work for the Department of Veterans Affairs as an RVSR (Rating Veterans Service Representative). I rate veterans’ disability claims through the VA in Salt Lake City, serving veterans regardless of where they live in the United States—and, in some cases, veterans living overseas. After spending a military career moving every few years, it’s nice to finally stay in one place, work a desk job, and continue doing jiu-jitsu.

Retirement benefits have also been a tremendous blessing. Over the years, I’ve dealt with my share of physical setbacks, including bilateral hip replacements, a biceps tenodesis, cervical disc replacement, and a heart attack that required angioplasty and a stent. I’m extremely thankful for TRICARE because my out-of-pocket costs for all of that medical care have been minimal.

Despite those setbacks, I’ve continued to stay active and physically fit. I give a lot of credit to jiu-jitsu and maintaining an active lifestyle for helping me remain in good condition as I’ve gotten older.

Looking back on my 23 years of military service, I wouldn’t change it. There were deployments, frequent moves, long hours, and plenty of challenges, but I had an interesting and rewarding career. If I had the opportunity to make that decision all over again, I would still choose to serve my country.

Now I’m enjoying this next chapter of life: helping veterans through my work at the VA, staying active, and continuing to train jiu-jitsu for as long as I possibly can.

This photo was taken when I became a Warrant Officer in CID (Criminal Investigation Division). It marked a major milestone in my Army career and the beginning of the warrant officer chapter that eventually took me from WO1 to CW4 before retiring after 23 years of service.

Pretat is legit. Known him since I was a brand new white belt. Great coach.

Retired Warrant here. Started training with my son and have loved it ever since. Started as an enlisted, chemical operations specialist, went to WOCS, completed flight school, flew Apaches, did some Warrant Officer recruiting, finished my career in Jag. Retired in 2023.