‘Camera guy can do it’: Soldier’s case for a strenuous way of life

‘Camera guy can do it’: Soldier’s case for a strenuous way of life

109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Date: 04.29.2026

Posted: 04.30.2026 14:28

News ID: 564020

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — The morning Sgt. David Thomson graduated from Shippensburg University, his automobile was packed for a nine-month deployment he barely had time to organize for.

Though he didn’t stroll throughout the stage for his commencement due to a mixture‑up associated to his deployment preparations, his household nonetheless drove in from New York to rejoice. From the stands he watched the commencement, together with his girlfriend strolling throughout the stage, whereas his thoughts was already turning to a special guidelines.

“Did I pack everything for nine months?” he remembers pondering. “I didn’t have much time to pack.”

Thomson, a public affairs specialist with the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, had spent the earlier week bouncing between finals, household plans and final‑minute packing. The shift from celebration to mobilization on the identical day was abrupt nevertheless it match him.

He is somebody who can step from one world into one other with out dropping his footing, who sees change not as disruption however as a possibility to organize for no matter comes subsequent.

That willingness to step into the unknown has carried him by way of the previous a number of months. Thomson, at present deployed right here in help of U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, makes use of that adaptability alongside his artistic thoughts. While deployed with SOCEUR, images and videography of particular operations are main features of his job.

His artistic roots run deep. Painting and sculpting have all the time been a part of his life and as a child he spent his summers in school rooms, taking superb artwork lessons whereas his mates had been on the pool. Even now, that inventive lens shapes how he works in public affairs and helps the Army inform its story.

“I have such a different view on things,” Thomson mentioned. “Sometimes everybody else will be thinking or doing something similar and I just have a completely different idea of how things are going. Hopefully, I can bring a different kind of view into telling the Army story.”

But creativity is just one aspect of him. The different is the competitor who pushes himself, research obsessively and refuses to be common.

Aside from his artistic pursuits, Thomson loves to remain lively. He runs a marathon each two weeks, not all the time in organized races, however as an everyday behavior. It is how he clears his thoughts and stays outdoors.

That drive to check himself led him to the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 2023 Best Warrior Competition, an expertise he describes with a mixture of depth and humor.

“It kinda felt like the Hunger Games a little bit,” he mentioned. “Everyone’s kind and friendly, but we’re just ruthlessly competing with each other.”

When Thomson realized he had been chosen for the competitors, he ready the one method he knew how, with full intent and focus. While others may need skimmed a research information, he dove in. He spent hours listening to podcasts and watching board‑prep movies, urgent pause to take notes on rules and doctrine.

The board ended up being his strongest occasion. In entrance of a panel of senior noncommissioned officers, he fielded questions on management, Army doctrine and rules. It is the form of excessive‑stress setting that rattles even essentially the most assured Soldiers.

“I listened to so many podcasts and YouTube videos about board prep,” Thomson mentioned. “I really like diving into how we do a lot of things in the Army. Until that point, I didn’t know why a lot of things functioned the way they did.”

The competitors did greater than take a look at him. It modified how he approaches every thing else. The identical research, put together, execute mindset helped him full Air Assault School and later train lessons again residence. Experiences like Best Warrior, he mentioned, taught him to be prepared earlier than he must be. It is a lesson he retains relearning.

If there’s a single thread that ties Thomson’s Army and private tales collectively, it’s preparedness.

“The Army likes to throw you in different situations,” he mentioned. “Oftentimes, people find themselves not prepared. You think you’re not going to do something, but then you spend 18 hours in a place and you don’t have enough water, you don’t have enough food, you don’t have a charged phone. You don’t have a pen and paper.”

He has been that Soldier a couple of times. He has no intention of letting it occur once more.

On missions, he’s the one with additional gear. When a teammate confirmed as much as a subject project with out water, he handed over a bottle and a blunt reminder to hydrate. When one other forgot reminiscence playing cards and batteries, Thomson had spares prepared in his ruck.

“I love packing my ruck, packing the car,” Thomson mentioned. “All these little complexities in life, if you just prepare ahead and think ahead and plan ahead, it really helps.”

That consideration to element goes past subject issues. He treats journey days and faculty deadlines the identical method, with planning paperwork, backups and contingencies prematurely. He jokes that Soldiers have an edge over “regular college kids” as a result of the Army forces them to assume forward.

“Proper planning prevents poor performance,” Thomson mentioned. “A lot of our generation doesn’t plan ahead.”

For him, planning forward is not only about missions. It is about life. His motivation, he mentioned, comes from a spot most individuals his age don’t discuss brazenly. Ultimately, Thomson is working for a future household he has not met but. He needs to set them up for fulfillment and already thinks about the way to be a greater father.

He traces that mindset again to how he was raised, in a household that emphasised religion, values and character. Following a set of morals and ethics, he mentioned, is as essential to him as bodily health or profession objectives.

Since deploying to Europe in December, Thomson has publicly launched dozens of pictures, movies and information tales capturing the efforts of U.S. particular operations forces and displaying what it means to serve. He has lined sniper coaching, cyber simulations, Green Berets on deep strike and drone workout routines, and led a small group documenting an airborne train.

Outside of labor, he refuses to let 9 months abroad disappear into routine.

“Wasting time,” Thomson mentioned, when requested what worries him most. “We have so much time here, and I want things to show for it, after setting aside my life for nine months.”

He is consistently reviewing how he spends that point, adjusting his habits and objectives. One week it’s refining his coaching plan, one other it’s transforming his graduate college software supplies or sketching out a brand new design concept.

His favourite a part of being an Army public affairs specialist is when he’s doing the gritty components of the job within the mud, mountains or chilly. He likes being with fight arms Soldiers, particularly after they notice the general public affairs man can sustain.

“I like when I can be faster and stronger than some of the combat arms people,” he mentioned, laughing. “When they see me with a big ruck and a camera and they’re like, ‘Oh, the camera guy can do it. Why can’t you do it?’”

Those shared hardships are the moments that make him really feel most related to the Soldier he needs to be, when he’s chilly, moist and drained, carrying a ruck and a digital camera, doing the identical onerous work because the Soldiers he’s there to {photograph}. Sometimes they even flip the lens on him, snapping unflattering images within the rain or mud and sending them again to him later.

Thomson doesn’t thoughts. It means he’s proper the place he needs to be.

“I like the idea of living a strenuous life, being a little gritty,” Thomson mentioned. “I don’t want to be like everybody else. I hope to teach people to have some critical thinking in life. Don’t just go with what the crowd does. Do things a little different.”