49-Year-Old Rambo Headed for Iraq

Ravage said:
August 23, 2007

They call Damian Horne “Grandpa Rambo.”

The Sante Fe, N.M., public defender volunteered for a 9-month deployment with a special forces unit of the Colorado National Guard and is scheduled to ship out for Iraq in October.

Damian Horne turns 49 on Friday.

“I really wanted to support what I believe is an honorable job,” said Horne, a former Army Ranger and reserve Green Beret who has a 3-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son.

“I looked at the men and women who are serving, and I was so proud of them. I thought if they’ll take an old Rambo back, then I’d join up.”

Horne has been trying to get to Iraq for nearly two years. He joined the New Mexico National Guard in 2006, but New Mexico doesn’t have a special forces unit, so he attached himself to the Colorado unit and attended Air Assault School in February, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

“It’s billed as the 10 toughest days in the Army,” Horne said. “At least 40 percent of our class didn’t make it.”

But Horne made it through the program, even though the next oldest man in the class was at least 15 years younger.

Horne’s wife Sydney West, also a public defender, said he gave her no advance notice of his decision to re-enlist, and she wasn’t surprised that he opted for a combat job over anything else, including putting his legal background to use.

“I wouldn’t think he’d want to go over there to write wills,” she told the newspaper. “If he gets back alive, I’m going to kill him.”

As for those who might call him irresponsible for heading off to combat with two children at home, Horne said: “I can’t think of a better example to set for them.”

© 2007 NewsMax. All rights reserved.
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I think, at that age..I will just want to spend my time fishing :rolleyes:
 
How common is it for someone to have the first two credentials, without having attended Air Assault somewhere along the way?
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Actually it is pretty common. While being a Ranger or SF qualified requires such operations, many do not attend a formal school, but rather receive unit training and certification.
 
pardus762 said:
I hate you guys...
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It's all love, all love. ;) There's groups of people from small Islands with Scottish heritage that get the sheep jokes too. My father in-law is one of them, he's from Manitoulin Island. And the others are from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, I have a few friends from there. They all get the jokes when the opportunity arises.
 
Ok,
I asked the E-8 in my class if he knew him and he didn't know anything about it. When I get to Campbell, I'll ask around.
 
gryfen said:
How common is it for someone to have the first two credentials, without having attended Air Assault somewhere along the way?

This is the first I've heard of such a thing.

The way they dramatized Air Assault school makes my BS meter twitch. I don't mean to try to detract from the merits of the school, but it seems like they're pushing aweful hard for the 'chicks dig it' factor in that article.
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Air Assault School is a relatively new course. Might not have had the opportunity to attend when he was in.

Also, a lot of folks I know who are Ranger and SF-qualified don't seem to feel a burning desire to attend Air Assault.
 
Maybe this guy was support attached to the 75th in the past and is now support for a SF unit. That seems to be the most probable explanation seeing as how he talked about AAS while the journalist called him a former Ranger and "reserve Green Beret".
 

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