Poet Spotlight: Interview with Associated Content Producer, D.A. Ashton

In Part One of my interview with Associated Content Producer, D.A. Ashton, this talented writer opened up to me about his passion for poetry, his many ambitions and his love for his mother, Jacquelyn Elaine Jones, who is now deceased. It would be impossible however to paint a lifelike portrait of Ashton without capturing eyes that have seen war up close and personal, lips that have spewed forth commands that summoned bravery, camaraderie, precision and perseverance from Army Soldiers, and the stature of one who could be referred to as nothing less than a gifted leader.

Born August 12, 1978 in Georgetown, South Carolina, Ashton was the quintessential "military brat." His father, Richard Ashley, served an Army tanker for 22 years before retiring, and it goes without saying that Ashton spent a great deal of his life on the move. The seeds of his Army career really began to sprout when he received an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Scholarship following the completion of his studies at Fort Knox High school. He would ultimately go on to become a decorated Officer of the United States Army, having earned various military honors. A snippet of his military bio is all one needs in order to see that his life in the United States Army is hardly a distant memory for Ashton:

"He has deployed twice to Southwest Asia to support Operation Iraqi Freedom; first as a Platoon Leader and Battalion Logistics Officer and again as a Fire Support Officer in an Aviation Tactical Operations Center."

Read on a little further and you will understand that his brainpower has definitely been in demand:

"...was selected ahead of peers to serve as a Combat Arms liaison for Ardent Sentry '04, a large-scale simulation designed to train government and civilian agencies on homeland security measures"

There is no better person however to talk about D.A., his upbringing, his military experiences and his personal views, than D.A.! So I picked his brain a bit to find out more about his life in the military and how that has helped to shape the main that he is today.