The Army saved my life

By Ms. Jennifer Stride (IMCOM)February 11, 2016

Sgt. Mackie recieves Army Achievement Medal
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – On Jan. 29, Fort Jackson's Deputy Commander, Col. Mark Shade awarded Mackie the Army Achievement Medal for serving as a bass guitar and percussion player for the U.S. Army Central change of command and numerous holiday concerts, thus contributing to ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Staff Sgt. Mackie reenlists
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Staff Sgt. Brian Mackey receives congratulatory hug
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Army wife receives recognition
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Sgt. Brian Mackie gets promoted to Staff Sgt.
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For Brian S. Mackie, with the 282nd Army Band, a complicated life and several careers caused uncertainty about his -- and his Family's -- future.

He had been faced with a multitude of issues that kept him from being promoted past sergeant.

All that was about to change.

In a matter of two days, he received a medal, got promoted to staff sergeant, and reenlisted.

"The Army saved my life," said now Staff Sgt. Mackie.

He had been recently discussing less than desirable future options with his wife, Tina, knowing his upcoming reenlistment as a sergeant would have taken him to the end of his military career -- without a pension.

"Leading up to today, I was having those conversations with my wife -- they were very real," Mackie said.

He knew as a sergeant, his tenure of combined military service would be limited to 15 years according to Army regulations.

"I was coming up on my retention control point because of prior service," said Mackie. "It was paramount that I get picked up (for staff sergeant)."

And that is just what he did, though it hasn't been an easy road for him.

Mackie began his Army career in Nov. 1989, attending Basic Combat Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, then graduating from the Army's School of Music and spending his next four years in Japan.

"I was a trumpet player from 1989 to 1994," he said. "My break (in service after that initial tour) was 14 and a half years."

During Mackie's time away from the Army, he lived in Florida and was in a band that played at Disney World and a couple of other venues in the Southeast.

"We had two CDs -- I was very active on the East Coast -- it's how I lived for six years," he said. "My (then future) wife put up with that."

He then became a stock broker in Melbourne, Florida, working for a small firm. Life was okay -- until the economy tanked.

"There were all the mortgage-backed securities in the market," he said, and then the subsequent bank bailouts.

When the economic bubble burst in 2008, his employer eventually ran out of money to pay the staff and he was laid off in May, 2009.

"It was a Friday and stress set in because I had two small girls at home," he said. "My (soon to be) wife -- she's an (operating room) nurse -- was working and she made good money but it wasn't enough."

Property insurance and property taxes had skyrocketed and it seemed everything was over valued at the time.

He was suddenly lost and needed to figure out what to do next.

"What brought it all to a (head) was my daughter coming up to me and asking me 'what are we having for dinner?'" he said with tears in his eyes, remembering that heart wrenching moment. "I didn't want to ever have to answer that question again."

He knew of only one thing that could keep his head above water and potentially save him -- and his family -- the Army.

He immediately called the Army Liaison and reentered the Army at 39 years old that October.

"Since I'd already been to music school, they weren't going to send me again so I had to pass a field audition with a 2.7 or higher, which is what you need to pass the course,' he said. "I got a 2.85."

He went straight to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for the Army's Warrior Transition Course, a five-week condensed version of Basic Combat Training before heading off to Fort Riley, Kansas in December 2009.

One of the first things he did after training was take some leave to go and marry his sweetheart Tina, who he had been dating for eight years.

Two weeks later, he was on his way to Iraq where he played many instruments while touring, but mostly bass guitar and percussion.

"We (the 1st Infantry Division Band) visited every Contingency Operating Base and Forward Operating Base that we had there," said Mackie. "It was a great experience."

Mackie believes that providing music to the troops, whether at a concert or ceremony, has a huge impact on morale and that the bands are an integral part of Army life.

In September 2012, shortly after he returned to the states, he got stationed here at Fort Jackson, where "Chief (Thomas) Jackson, who was a sergeant first class and had been accepted into the warrant program, was my team leader," he said. "He was very, very supportive."

Things were definitely looking up for Mackie, happy to be back doing what he loved, but another of life's interruptions would hit him with force once again.

"In February 2013 I was home on a Sunday morning and I went into (atrial fibrillation)," he said. "Apparently I was in a thyroid storm and that's what caused it."

At that time, he was a promotable sergeant in a sergeant first class position with the band.

He needed the experience because the changes in the Army's promotion point system caused him to miss the cut-off points.

"I think that that was very important for me because I needed that leadership experience," he said. "You know I'm older and it's rough when your peers are 20 years younger than you."

Mackie said it was a new stress but a good one.

"I had to deal with being a leader and also taking care of myself at the same time," he said.

Mackie went through radioactive iodine treatment, "which basically killed my thyroid and then I had to start a regiment of artificial hormone -- Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium tablets)," he said. "I have to take it for the rest of my life."

The support he got from his leadership and the rest of the band members during that time helped him cope with the new medical challenges he faced.

Now Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thomas Jackson, band master and commander of the 282nd Army Band says Mackie "has done well, faced every challenge and come out on top."

"So it's been rough, it's been a battle," he said. "With thyroid issues come weight issues and I'm vertically challenged so I really have to be on my game when it comes to diet and exercise because the Army doesn't play around with that."

Mackie has since been medically cleared for duty and says he's good to go.

After overcoming that hurdle, Mackie completed a tour in Korea and returned to Fort Jackson in February 2015 to embark on his current tour.

"My first sergeant here helped me secure a slot in a Non-commissioned Officer Education System Advanced Leader Course, where I obtained my (additional skill identifier) C1, (which means Army band (large) qualified)," he said. "I needed that to make E6."

He graduated with a 98.76 grade point average, though he was still number 6 out of 16.

"That's how competitive our field is," he said.

Mackie has been in the Army now for 11 and a half years, six of those have been overseas and he says he is grateful because his wife and three step daughters have supported him and stuck by him through it all.

Tina brought her daughters into his life those many years ago and they are "like my own daughters -- I've raised them since they were 3, 5, and 7," he said.

Lindsey is now 18 years old, Tiffany 20, and Kiersten 22.

"They've all ridden the roller coaster with me," Mackie said.

Mackie says all the girls are strong willed and stubborn.

"What I've tried to instill in them that I want them to be able support themselves so when they enter into a relationship and get married, it's out of want and not necessity," he said.

Mackie is stubborn too and has the will and desire to get the most out of the Army.

"The leadership I have here this time has pushed me to go to Master Resiliency School, which I needed," said Mackie.

Attending Army educational training can help Soldiers earn promotion points.

Once all of the schools had been completed, the Family settled, and his health on an even keel, Mackie was hoping to make the promotion list again -- and actually get promoted this time.

It turned out he was in for a couple of surprising and pretty exciting, well deserved days that once again changed his world for the better.

On Jan. 29, Fort Jackson's Deputy Commander, Col. Mark Shade awarded Mackie the Army Achievement Medal for serving as a bass guitar and percussion player for the U.S. Army Central change of command and numerous holiday concerts, thus contributing to the "resounding success" of the mission.

But that wasn't the best thing that happened to Mackie.

Early Feb. 2, Mackie got promoted in front of his Family and the rest of the band -- meaning he could stay Army and eventually retire.

"(Mackie) is a great guy -- some of us have been working with him, studying and doing what we can to help get him ready for promotion," said one of his battle buddies, Staff Sgt. Jessica Smith "He definitely worked hard and it is well deserved."

Once he was promoted, he immediately reenlisted and hopes to stay and complete 30 years of service if he can.

"Just because I've become promoted doesn't mean there are no challenges in front of me," he said.

"I still have to plan for a future and I don't know where the Army will send me next but I'll go there, I'll hold my head up high and I'll do the same thing that I've done here and everywhere else I've been, because I truly believe in what I do!" Mackie was congratulated by Family and fellow band members after the ceremony.

He says it's been a long road with challenges, but he wouldn't change a thing.

"My story is my story -- it's not bad, it's not good but it might be something someone else needs to hear," he said. "If I could make one point the strongest, you know it would be that it's hard enough in today's Army being a Soldier, but if you don't have the support system in place, either with the relationships you have with your battle buddies at work or the support system of the Family, you're not going to be successful because (life is) all stress and it all compounds and we're only so strong -- and that's what makes us who we are -- the ability to have emotions."