Back in 2021 I had the opportunity to travel to Greece and train with their army. I have been a member of the Alabama national guard for 5 years, and thanks to this experience I got to travel out of the country for the first time in my life. Through my time with the guard and as an infantry man I have gotten to train all over the country, but this training exercise changed my life by giving me a new perspective of the world. We traveled to a city called Xanthi, it was located about 2 hours away from the turkey border. Xanthi is not a huge tourist location, so we got to really immerse ourselves in the culture. I had the opportunity to talk to many of the soldiers and learn the differences from their army and ours. The Greek Army is a conscription based group meaning that all members had no choice and they had to serve a certain amount of time. Compared to us their military is less organized and less equipped. With that being said I learned some valuable skills; such as handling VIP personnel in a tactical scenario.
When we were not training I was able to venture into Xanthi and immerse myself further in the local culture, trying foods I have never seen before, and also try the Greek take on some of my personal favorites. I was able to explore hidden bars and really expand my palate. Greece was a beautiful country where I was able to learn about a culture that was unfamiliar to mine, but it also taught me to appreciate everything that we had here in the United States.
