Week One: Personal Project

SSG Benton, U.S. Army Training Kenyan Soldiers

About Me

Welcome to my page.
What about me do you want to know?
I grew in a place outside of Chicago that really gave me a burning desire to see the world.
I moved to Utah to ski and attend University. Shortly after completing my first semester or two I realized that paying
for school was a real challenge. Then in search of adventure; I applied to work on a crabbing vessel in the Bering Sea (long before the tv show)
and to the U.S. Army. The Army took me, but no one else did. The Army gave me experiences nothing else could. I first lived in Virginia and North Carolina
Then I was sent to Uzbekistan and my love of everything international came to light. I have since spent several years in Afghanistan and Africa. I have visited
every continent except Antartica, and my love of the world has not stopped. Below you can read a brief summary of my CV, see some highlights and download a copy.
Thanks for visiting my page!

Contact Me

About

Soldier Rob

My career started with the United States Army back in May 2001. Yes, that was just months before 9/11,
and that changed how I thought being in the Army was going to be like. I first deployed to Afghanistan in early 2002,
and stayed there until the following year. This deployment was exciting and new and was relatively quiet compared
to my second deployment in 2006-2007. On the second deployment my 12-person team was charged with securing an area that was
75 miles wide and 150 miles long in Southern Afghanistan along the Pakistani border.

Since then, I have served the United States in various roles, and have lived and worked in Africa, Europe and Central America.
Above is a picture of myself training the 12th Kenyan Engineers prior to their invasion of Southern Somalia in 2011.

After the mission in Africa I attended Queen’s University Belfast in Belfast Northern Ireland and earned a master’s degree
in Violence, Terrorism, and Security. Following my graduation I was set to take a job near the annexed region of Ukraine,,br> but life intervened.

So, I moved back to Salt Lake City to be with my family, and began working in Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
This is a rewarding job, but it comes with long hours and not great pay. In search of something with better hours and pay
I started helping a friend promote his websites.

For the last few years I have been learning all about digital marketing and search engine optimization.
I have found the world wide web a very interesting and limitless adventure, and that is how I ended up in this class
learning how to code and develop websites.

CV Download

Downloadable CV

Medic Rob

Bronze Star Medal
Combat Action Badge
Coordinated a development project aimed at strengthening relationships between three separate Comorian Ministries (Education, Health, Military) and local media which resulted in the distribution of malaria education materials that benefited approximately 18,000 Comorian primary students on the Island of Grande Comore, Comoros.
Immediately following NATO’s removal of Muammar Gaddafi in October of 2011, I was charged with drafting and delivering a speech to Comorian Military members which explained the rationale for the intervention. Until NATO’s intervention, the Gaddafi Regime had funded the Comorian military’s payroll. My guided discussion of the recent events satisfied the soldiers and university students, and no unwelcome situations followed.