Bill Ball

Hello! First, I would like to thank you for showing interest in my writing. It is truly an honor to have someone take the time to read what you have created and I hope that you enjoy it and feel it was worthy of your time.

I am born and raised in the rural farm country of central Michigan. Many people think of Detroit as Michigan but let me tell you that once you get fifty miles from Detroit you would think you are in Nebraska. It is small towns, farms, and families.

My father was a police officer and most of my family worked in factories. Vactions were camping. Every Sunday it was dinner at my grandma's house where my mom and her eight brothers and sisters would gather with my cousins and fill the house with love and laughter. The world would be a better place if everyone spent more time at grandma's house with loving family.

I went in the Army one week after I graduated high school. My dream was to be an Airborne Infantryman and I was lucky enough to live it. Basic training and Infantry school at Ft. Benning, followed by Airborne school at Benning. After two weeks leave where I went home and proposed to my incredible wife Jonelle (29 years together so far) I reported to Ft. Bragg, NC. Being stationed at Bragg is the best thing that can happen to a young grunt. It is the home of the Airborne, Special Forces, Delta Force, and Special Opperations Command. You are expected to be stronger, faster, and harder than the rest of the Army and it is an honor to be in the 82nd Airborne. Four years in 2/504 Parachute Infantry Regiment where you are expected to be ready to deploy to anywhere in the world in 18 hours. It is an aggressive lifestyle and it builds incredible soldiers. Those men, my brothers, helped form me into a true Paratrooper and I was honored to share their teachings and legacy with my soldiers throughout my career. When you are training you train hard. When you are off you party hard.

Following my four years in the 82nd Airborne I reported to the Michigan Army National Guard as a Light Infantryman. I was lucky to be assigned to Aco 1/125 Infantry in Alma, Michigan where I met some good soldiers and mentors that were working hard to change the National Guard from their old traditions and into a professional modern fighting force.

This was in the 90's during the post Cold War draw down so it was a time of change. Aco 1/125 (Light) was transitioned to A co 3/126th Infantry (Air Assault) and we were lucky enough to train with the 101st at our home in Camp Grayling, Michigan and at Ft Campbell, KY. Hard charging battle focused training allowed us to attract the cream of the crop in the National Guard. We were honored with duty as the security force for the Olympic Athletes Village at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. The next year we got a dream shot by being given the chance to attend Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) at Ft. Sherman, Panama. Hard training was rewarded.

The next year I was given the opportunity to lead a squad in Dco 1/125 Infantry (Mechanized). This was a whole new field for me since I had never been in a unit with vehicles before. I was honored to lead a squad that could rival the best in the Army. We had 100% prior service in the leadership positions and some of the best and brightest soldiers I have ever met as our core. To our surprise we adapted to this mechanized warfare quickly and dominated in our training.

The following year I was given an amazing and difficult opportunity. My old unit A-126 Inf was being transitioned to Field Artillery due to force structure changes. This is a difficult thing for a soldier, you joined to do what you loved and now you were being forced to change to something entirely different. After the first two full time Guardsman failed to guide the company through the transition (there was much anger and frustration) I was asked to enlist in the Active Duty National Guard, this was a dream come true to be an active duty soldier and still live in my wife's home town. So I left my job as a technician for Hitachi at a local factory and became a full time soldier again.

The Field Artillery is a completely different mindset than the Infantry and it took some hard training to make the transition. After the basic school I was put in the position as the Battery Gunnery Sergeant, responsible for making sure that guns were on target so the artillery fire hits the bad guys and not the good guys. With some great training and mentoring we went into our first year as Bravo Battery 1-119 Field Artillery. That year the misfit battery of brand new Artilleryman went out and won the Best Firing Battery award. We beat the long term professionals. You can't ask for more than those men did that year. I could not be more proud.

Again hard training was rewarded and the 119th FA was given the opportunity to train at the National Training Center (NTC) at Ft Irwin, CA. This is some of the hardest training the Army offers and the Highlanders of Bravo Battery did an exceptional job.

Shortly after that I suffered a severe back injury and the broken vertebrae and ruptured disks would not allow me to continue service so I was medically discharged. A very hard and unwanted transition in my life and a difficult adjustment for me.

Thankfully, with the support of my wonderful wife Jonelle and my incredible daughters (Jenae and Alyssa) I was able to begin at the bottom and work my way up. Years of working midnights and going to school in the day paid off with a degree and now I am an Engineer. From forklift driver to engineering was a hard fought road but very rewarding.

Now that my work life is settled I am working on my dream which is to write. I have some stories in my head that I have wanted to get out for so long and I am going to try and get them out there. They will be strong on military, values, honor, courage, and the human spirit. Hard work is rewarded.

I hope that you enjoy my books and that I am worthy of your investment of time and money. It is an honor to have your interest.

You may contact me at my website: www.deadvsalive.com

I will try to answer everyone that contacts me there.

I am able to write because authors were willing to talk to a fan. Thank you Shawn Chesser, Sean Liebling, and Paul Mannering for nurturing a fans interest into a beginning author. Without your support I would never have taken the first step down this path.

Bill