Brandon Chrusciel, criminal justice freshman, has been in the military for almost three-and-a-half years.
In the National Guard, the 21-year-old is a 31E — a military police internment/resettlement specialist. His ranking is an E4 — an enlistee specialist.
“My MOS, which is military occupational specialty, consists of a corrections officer. We run correctional facilities, and we provide security, and we escort prisoners from one area to another,” Chrusciel said. “We make sure that they get their showers, that they get their free time and that they get their meals.”
Military soldiers are staffed wherever they are needed. Chrusciel provided security and volunteered in an orphanage while he was in Haiti for two weeks.
“When I went to the orphanage, I was actually helping out with the little kids, making sure that they weren’t getting hurt, that people who weren’t supposed to be coming in weren’t and that people who needed to be seen weren’t leaving,” Chrusciel said. “They didn’t really understand what was going on, so we were trying to help them. So, that was our job — to make sure that the right people who needed to get seen first got seen.”
Chrusciel decided to join the National Guard during his senior year of high school. After debating which branch of the military to join, Chris, 29, Brandon’s brother and National Guard soldier, described what it was like. It was enough to convince Chrusciel which branch to join.
His job in the military is demanding both mentally and physically, and there are some downsides, specifically the time spent away from home.
“The hardest part is being away from home for so long,” Brandon said. “Luckily, I haven’t been deployed on any serious deployments, like a year long. I mean, being gone for a few months away from home for training and for the few weeks I was in Haiti were hard enough for me.”
Outside of the National Guard, Brandon said he likes to stay active, build computers and hang out with friends and family.
Brandon has a 2-year-old son, Landon.
“He means everything to me,” he said. ”His birthday is actually the day before mine, which I think is awesome.”
Brandon’s girlfriend, Amanda Millar, 21, said he is motivated to set a good example for his son.
“Brandon does everything he does for his son so he can have a better life than he had,” Millar said.
By JENNIFER
HARRINGTON
Staff
jeharrin@umail.iu.edu