Army Reserve

McDonald: Hi.  I’m Sergeant Dae McDonald.  I’m the Broadcast NCOIC at the 222nd Broadcast Operations Detachment.  We are a public affairs unit.  And so that means we cover stories.  It’s fun.  I love it.  We tell other service members’ stories, about their deployments, about their life.  Anything that has a military tie‑in, we tell a story about it.  I love interacting with people.  I love to network.  I love to kind of gauge and interact and figure out the way people think.  And telling service members’ stories kind of give me the chance to do tha‑- You know, everyone is so interesting, in their own way.  So telling their story kind of makes me feel like I’m giving something back, more than just being a soldier.  My civilian life and my military life always goes together.  Because on the civilian side, I’m an actress.

M1:  Hi.  Who you here for?

McDonald: The audition, at 2:00.

M1:  OK.

McDonald: Being in the Reserve, as an actor, is perfect for me, because it insures that there’s always money coming in.  And I’m always learning things.  Like, by default, I became a stunt actress -- and fitness.  I just fell into those niches, because those were the things that I did naturally, in my training in the military.

McDonald: Hi, I’m Dae McDonald.  And I’m reading for the role of Laura.

McDonald: I think my chain of command is really pushing for me to succeed in the acting world.  Because we have our own Army marketing.  And if there are jobs that come down the chain, they’ll always push it.  “Hey, Sergeant McDonald, did you hear about this?”  So I think they really want me to succeed.  Getting that call from my agent is -- it’s one of the best days.  I love when my agent calls me.  Because I know it’s a booking.  And so it makes me feel great.  Like it’s my dream!  And everybody, in life, wants to accomplish their dream.  And there’s no better feeling than having done that.  It makes -- it makes it feel like your [02:00] life has purpose.  

Spc. Ayriss Torres:

I grew up with just my mom and I don't come from a lot of money in my family, so I knew that I needed to find a way to support myself. So, I wanted to join the Army Reserve to not only grow within myself, but also show other people what it takes to be a leader, to be a soldier, and to really serve other people.

When I was actually the first Mexican-American Miss Idaho. I was the first to hold the GED. I was the first to still be working full-time while also serving the state of Idaho. I traveled to at least one different state every month in the last year. I have logged well over 8,000 hours of community service and I still also was able to drill with my unit, and The Army Reserve has really helped me be able to say that I was the first. But, now I know that being visible like this means that I won't be the last. While I am still a student at Idaho State University, I'm actually running several non-profits. I have also still been able to serve my country. Besides my mortgage right now, I'm completely debt free. I do not have any student debt. It's crazy to think that I'm able to pay for my education and all of my future goals because of joining the Army Reserve and because of being Miss Idaho. Both of those, hand in hand working together, has given me a life that my ancestors could only dream of.