Today we’d like to introduce you to Trent Walker.
Hi Trent, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Trent Walker. I’m a U.S. Army Recruiter based out of West Fargo, ND. I’m currently a volunteer wrestling coach at West Fargo High School, a power lifter and Twitch Streamer. I’m married with 2 children and 1 on the way. My story all started my sophomore year in college. I really had no idea where or what I wanted to do. From my early years in high school, I always knew that I wanted to travel and have excitement but I never knew what that looked like, what I needed to do or how to do it in order to fulfill those ideas. My mother ALWAYS pushed me to go be in some sort of law enforcement or legal employment but when I shadowed an officer he told me that 80% of the job was typing up reports. From that moment I kind of knew it wasn’t going to be my path. Mind you, I was a 3 sport athlete who snowboarded, white water rafted, hiked, etc. I couldn’t even begin to imagine myself pushing paper on top of a structure of wood just so someone could look at it and scribble on it.
Back to college, it’s January and my brother messages me and said “I’m doing it, I’m joining the US Army.” I couldn’t believe it but a wave of relief came over me and I had an epiphany: the Army was my calling. I immediately went to the station in my area (Coos bay, OR) and talked to them about joining. 7 months later I was on my way to basic training. I got EXACTLY what I had begged for. Excitement, discipline, undying motivation burning day in and day out. I went to airborne school and jumped out of planes! I mean I was deathly afraid of heights and here I was screaming Geronimo!!!! I had initially signed up for special forces but realized it wasn’t for me and when they asked where I wanted to go I immediately said Alaska. My platoon sergeant at the time said well I’m going to get you to Alaska Private Walker. 2 weeks later I had orders and a month after that I was on a plane bound for the Largest state of the U.S.A. When I arrived I asked my Girlfriend at the time if this was the time we should get married so she could move up and she said of course so I flew her up to Anchorage and we had a court room marriage.
I spent 3 years in Alaska doing all the things I loved. Hiking, snowboarding, I even got to play rugby on my post’s team! Which was just so much fun. I spoke with my wife and she said Trent, we have to move to Colorado at some point, I hear it’s beautiful. So I went to my retention NCO and asked for just that and BOOM I re-enlisted for another 3 years and had orders for Fort Carson, Colorado. 1 year later I was traveling through Canada to live somewhere I had never been before with a newborn baby and my lovely wife.
When I arrived in Colorado my unit informed me that we were deploying to Europe. 2 months after getting a house in Colorado I was off to spend 9 months in Europe. What an ABSOLUTE blast. I made best friends with my squad immediately. Training was amazing, I shot a Javelin, ate foreign MREs, traveled to cities I never knew existed, met people I’ll never forget, experienced things that I had asked for in high school! I was meant for this!
We come back from Europe and I am filled with love for my job. I get promoted and sent to Basic Leaders Course in May of 2018 where I pass with honors and I get promoted to the rank of Sergeant the next month after graduating. We get told we’re deploying to Kuwait in 2019 and so we start our train-up which was a lot of fun since I was training to be a Bradley Gunner. Once we arrived to Kuwait I knew it was going to be rough whenever we trained because it would get so hot! Eventually, I got used to the heat and things were moving as usual. I got to train Kuwait officers on tactics and even met the Ambassador during the training, we even went to Jordan for a very large live fire event.
Upon arrival, we were told we were going to get a chance to take a trip to the Dead Sea. Well we did just that and it was so cool! I don’t know a single soul except for the gentlemen I shared that day with that has gotten to swim in the Dead Sea and spend the same day on a 5-star resort. 5 stars is what we were told, I cannot confirm but it was so beautiful. Well once we return to Colorado I started doing all the things I loved again, sports, snowboarding, hiking, I even learned how to downhill mountain bike which has become one of my favorite things to do.
Finally, the US Army asked me to go recruit so I accepted and decided that I wanted to be apart of the Minneapolis Battalion. They needed me in Fargo, ND right on the border so I said let’s go help some people out. When I arrived in Fargo I was promoted to Staff Sergeant and went to advanced leaders course. At this point in my career, I had been awarded 8 Army Achievement Medals, 2 Army Commendation Medals and several others. In June of 2021, I decided that I was going to start my digital journey alongside training for Powerlifting. I’ve been streaming on Twitch and training since and I love it. I love recruiting! I get to tell people my amazing experiences in the Army and how much fun it has been for me. I cannot express how much opportunity the Army has given me and how much it has helped my family become such a success. My wife is currently a manager at Dutch Bros Coffee and is looking to Operate her own stands.
We have 2 kids with one on the way and I cannot wait to tell my stories to my kids when they ask. I’ve never had any type of medical debt, I’ll have 36 months of paid tuition and housing whenever I decide to leave the Army. The Army has provided my family and myself the opportunity to buy a home and has paid for everything so far. I’ve gotten over $20,000 in bonuses. I’ve received a raise every year for the last 8 years. I’ve been blessed and I’m looking forward to many more successful years and the chance to give others the same opportunities I’ve received and more!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been a couple of obstacles such as minor surgeries I’ve had that kept me out of commission for months at a time. That being said, the most major hurdle that I must continuously stay on top of is: my size.
I am a large human being and I must continuously stay relevant compared to my peers when it comes to fitness. So I got to the gym 5 days a week and have a nutritionist to keep myself healthy in order to compete with my peers on a daily basis.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
By trade, I am a US Army Infantryman. I specialize in being a part of the greatest land force to have ever existed. My field is what you would call a jack of all trades. To some degree, the Infantry conducts just about every job in the Army. Usually, the jobs directly effecting the daily mission. Currently, I am a U.S. Army Recruiter and my job is to inform the community of the Army and its benefits and to facilitate a person’s entry into the US Army whether that’s enlisted or officership.
I’m proud of both professions. As an infantryman you go through 22 weeks of training and at the end are awarded your blue cord that signifies your acceptance and acknowledgment of the Infantry. We’re the Queen of battle, able to move anywhere we’re needed. Adding to that we have a lot of pride in our profession and believe in being highly disciplined so that we’re always perfect in all operations.
In recruiting I’m a professional that gets to expand on the community and help kids or adults, not only ones in need of opportunities, but also people who never knew of the opportunities to venture out and do the things they’ve always wanted too. I get to promote this amazing life I’ve had and get to watch people I’ve helped excel at life to new levels.
I am probably most known in the Infantry for being the big aggressive go getter. I’ve always been the loud person willing to ask the hard questions and allowing myself to get beat up for everyone else to get an answer. I’m always the one to volunteer myself as the first to go and the last one out and that is something I pride myself in.
I’m most known in recruiting as Ragingtuna66- my stream. The big streamer that everyone heard about at the fair that asked them to do some push-ups for their country.
I think what sets me apart from others is my positive and fun attitude when times are tough. When it’s cold, raining or blistering hot I’m the guy that’s having a good time. Adding to that, everywhere I go, leaders always judge me by my size but always find out my abilities later and I think it takes a bit of time but when they see that, it blows their mind and they love it. They eat it like cake when they see the big guy in training running around keeping everything on top and at its best.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Coming out of high school I’d say I was going with the flow of things. I wrestled in college and all but never took any risk. When I got to the recruiting station is where that all changed. Again I am deathly afraid of heights so when I was asked if I wanted to go to Airborne school and jump out of plans I thought to myself “This would be an excellent way to get over my fears” and so I said yes. On my first jump, when those doors opened I cannot express in words the rush of the moment. I couldn’t believe I had dared myself to that point but here I was 1,200 feet above the ground with a parachute on my back. When I reach the door I just said “GERONIMO!” On my way out and from that point I took risks where I saw fit.
Nowadays I take risks in other fashions of my life, not so much a physical risk but more of mental risks like speaking in public or on a public platform.
The way I see risk is this:
If at any point you must think twice about something than you are about to take, what I feel, is a risk. At that time you should be assessing the potential outcomes and weigh the options of risk. If it is in dire need to be successful, take the risk. If it is unnecessary then ask yourself why you would even consider it. You are your own person and you will determine those things for yourself. I can tell you that whenever someone told me I couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t then I absolutely would to the best of my ability all the way til I had nothing left to give. That was my driving motivation against all risks I took.
To put all that in perspective, if the risk is to speak out for yourself in an attempt to gain opportunity then do it. If the risk is to look cool but putting your life in mortal danger then maybe reassess your decision making processes.
In the end, if you never take risks then you’ll probably never live. If you always take risks then you will probably cease to live.
Pricing:
- $50,000 sign-on bonus
- 36 months paid tuition and housing
- $4,000 for tuition assistance while serving
- 150 Career paths
Contact Info:
- Email: Trent.a.walker6.mil@army.mil
- Website: https://twitch.tv/ragingtuna66
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ragingtuna66?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trent.walker.1420354
- Other: www.goarmy.com
