Editor’s Note: The Journal’s Unsung Heroes series spotlights a local veteran each Monday from Memorial Day to Veteran’s Day. If you would like to nominate an Unsung Hero, email news@journal-news.net.
CHARLES TOWN — Joining the U.S. Army was not ZaBarr Jones’ first move after graduation from Jefferson High School in 2017.
The Ranson native instead decided to stay in his hometown, working for nearly a year and a half before deciding enlistment was the way to go.
“I chose the Army, because my closest friends had all chosen the Army, and they encouraged me to follow suit and join,” Jones said. “The only recruiting office in Martinsburg was a Marines recruiting office, but I never even considered joining the Marines.”
Upon enlistment, Jones headed out to Fort Benning, Georgia, now named Fort Moore, where he completed basic training and continued with his training as an infantryman.
“Following basic training, I immediately went to Airborne School and completed that, as well,” he shared.
After serving in the infantry until 2021, Jones determined it was time to select a different military occupational specialty (MOS), and he attended the Defense Information School (DINFOS) located at Fort Meade, Maryland, to shift to a public affairs mass communication specialist (PAO).
After spending his first three years at Fort Benning (Fort Moore) and then Fort Bragg, North Carolina, now Fort Liberty, Jones found himself training at Fort Meade before shipping to his current duty station at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, in Hawaii. While he indicated he has not had a military deployment, per se, the sergeant did support the Afghanistan withdrawal operation in 2021 and traveled across the Pacific to Guam, Palau and the Philippines to support air defense artillery operations.
Jones explained that one of the most challenging things so far has been learning his job as a non-commissioned officer (NCO).
“Since I was a private up to specialist as an infantryman, it made becoming a sergeant in the public affairs world difficult, because all of my peers had years to try, fail, learn and improve their skills as PAOs before an NCO but not for me,” he said. “I showed up to this career field, got promoted quickly soon after and had all the experiences and responsibilities of a junior NCO without even half of the experience.”
He explained that having a great team around him helped him gain the knowledge gap he faced rather quickly.
In his current military role, Jones takes and edits photos and videos, writes articles, advises his commanding general and other upper leadership on public affairs guidance, does graphic design work and runs his unit’s Facebook page.
While he said deployment is a possibility, it is more likely that temporary duty assignments, such as those he had to Guam, Palau and the Philippines, may be possible.
“Since joining, I’ve gained skills in photography, videography and journalism. I’ve improved skills such as my time management,” Jones said of his current military service.
“I even learned how to shave since being in the Army,” he laughed, saying that joining has given him a new sense of independence in a variety of arenas. “I’m going about working through my career, doing all these moves around the country and world and learning how to balance it all with my normal out-of-uniform life all by myself. That sense of independence has probably been the greatest thing that I’ve gained from the Army.”
Jones has had some unique and satisfying experiences in his nearly six years in the Army.
“The most satisfying thing that I’ve done so far has to be my coverage of Balikatan 2023,” he said.
Balikatan is a huge multinational training exercise conducted in the Philippines, Jones explained, as he shared that he and his three-man public affairs shop flew there to assist in covering an Avenger Air Defense Systems live fire and a Patriot missile-defense system live fire.
“I had just pinned sergeant only two months earlier, and this was not only my first trip outside of the U.S. but also my first real test as an NCO,” Jones said. “My shop was tasked with escorting over 70 reporters and journalists from multiple different media outlets during the live fires and facilitating multiple interviews between my commanding general and different media outlets, including “60 Minutes Australia” and the Wall Street Journal. Also, we conducted a press conference just after the Patriot live fire,” he said.
Jones went on to explain that in addition to capturing his own photos and videos, he was tasked at the last minute with escorting 60 Minutes Australia to its interview area, helping the team set up and providing any other support they needed.
“It was very satisfying wrapping up a successful Balikatan, but it was even sweeter once they had published their video. The video can be found on ‘60 Minutes Australia’s’ YouTube channel,” Jones said.
While Jones is not sure whether the military will be a career for him, he said he will make more of a determination as he gets closer to the 10-year mark.
“There are definitely still some things that I want to do in the Army, but none of them will push me all the way to 20 years,” he said. “The only thing I have planned for now for the future is spending a year or two stationed in Korea starting in mid-2025.”
Regardless of whether the military remains his career, Jones said that he has made countless friends through his service — from serving in the 82nd Airborne Division in North Carolina across the country to the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
“I’ve learned and experienced a lot of different things that I would a never had the chance to learn or experience if it weren’t for these friends,” he said. “For example, I experienced real bull riding from a friend that I shared a barracks room with that was born and raised in Texas while I was in North Carolina. I unfortunately don’t speak to all my friends daily. However, I do still reach out to them whenever I need help with Army problems. Just the other day, I had a friend call and ask if they could use me as a reference for a job application back in their home state.”
While the military life isn’t always easy, Jones doesn’t regret his choice.
“The biggest regret that I have is not joining the Army sooner,” he said, adding that had he joined right out of high school rather than working first, his path may have been different. “I would have met different people, I would have had different experiences, maybe I would have deployed, maybe I would have stayed in the infantry, maybe I would have tried becoming a Ranger. It’s not something that I put too much thought into, however, because I’m very happy, still, with where my career has led me to so far.”
To those considering the military, Jones said, “Just do it. Just try a three-year contract. Three years will fly by very quickly, and you might even find yourself wanting to reenlist for another three years. That’s what I did at least. If you don’t like it, you can at least say that you tried it and found that it wasn’t for you.
“There’s nothing wrong with getting out after three years, either. I’ve met many great people that just simply did one contract, got out and then went on to do bigger and better things outside of the Army. The Army just simply gave them the tools to help them make it on the outside. I highly recommend that everybody just serve at least one three-year contract in any service,” he said.
