{"id":468988,"date":"2025-06-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=468988"},"modified":"2025-06-04T20:44:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T20:44:41","slug":"army-reserve-father-and-son-serve-together-at-mojave-falcon-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=468988","title":{"rendered":"Army Reserve father and son serve together at Mojave Falcon 25"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n 1st Lt. Justin Knowles (left), military intelligence officer, 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, shares a joke with his father Lt. Col. John Knowles Jr, veterinarian, 2nd Medical Training Brigade, Medical Readiness Training Command, June 2, Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. Both father and son are officers in the Army Reserve and part of Mojave Falcon 25, a multi-faceted first-of-its-kind Army Reserve training exercise that integrates Combat Support Training Exercise, Global Medic, Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise, Port Operations and Nationwide Move.
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FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. \u2014 Many Soldiers, past and present, have followed their father’s footsteps and joined the Army, keeping a tradition of service intact through the decades. But being able to serve alongside each other in the Army \u2014 let alone at a major Army Reserve training event \u2014 makes is an experience few will ever know.<\/p>\n

Continuing this tradition are Lt. Col. John Knowles Jr. and his son 1st Lt. Justin Knowles, both part of Mohave Falcon 25, both able to serve together and share their collective journeys at the exercise.<\/p>\n

For both, their journey has been unique. Knowles Jr., a veterinarian with 2nd Medical Training Brigade, Medical Readiness and Training Command, decided to enlist at the age of 47, an age most would consider military retirement an option.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in 15 years \u2026 I joined in 2010 when the economy was crashing and I was looking for a way to make ends meet; once I got in, I really enjoyed it,\u201d Knowles Jr. said. \u201cI developed a purpose I\u2019d never felt before and stayed in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision was difficult for his wife, who had to adapt to this sudden change in lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if she processed it at the time, especially on my first deployment which was more challenging than joining,\u201d he said. \u201cShe thought the concept was great, but then reality hits and it\u2019s much different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowles Jr. was able to direct commission as an officer, making his career path more straightforward.<\/p>\n

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\n 1st Lt. Justin Knowles (left), military intelligence officer, 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, engages in conversation with his father Lt. Col. John Knowles Jr., veterinarian, 2nd Medical Training Brigade, Medical Readiness and Training Command, June 2, Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. Both father and son are officers in the Army Reserve and part of Mojave Falcon 25, a multi-faceted first-of-its-kind Army Reserve training exercise that integrates Combat Support Training Exercise, Global Medic, Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise, Port Operations and Nationwide Move.
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Watching his father\u2019s Army progression was an inspiration for Knowles, a military intelligence officer with the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, who admired his father\u2019s tenacity to join the Army later in life and assert himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching him progress and some of the opportunities he had definitely rubbed off on me,\u201d Knowles said. \u201cI joined to be part of something bigger, be part of a team and make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowles Jr. gave his son advice before making the decision to join.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was honest with him and told him the pros and cons, things that he\u2019d have challenges within the military,\u201d Knowles Jr. said. \u201cThere would be things he thinks he can fix which aren\u2019t always as easy as they appear.\u201d<\/p>\n

This didn\u2019t deter Knowles, who went to Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, before completing Officer Candidate School, in Columbus, Georgia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two choices when I decided to join \u2014 I could wait two years to direct commission as a captain in Civil Affairs \u2014 or go the traditional route and go to basic training and OCS,\u201d Knowles explained. \u201cI was assigned military intelligence and have been in three years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowles Jr. is proud of his son and challenges he\u2019s overcome so early in his Army Reserve career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, the thing I\u2019m most proud of are the challenges he\u2019s overcome to be where he is,\u201d Knowles Jr. said. \u201cA lot of people would have quit, but he\u2019s stuck with it, continued in difficult roles and responded well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJustin\u2019s mother is equally as proud and she gets a lot of pleasure from seeing us serve together,\u201d he continued. \u201cEverybody has those concerns when things get a little more serious and her concerns are always there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For both, getting to serve at Mojave Falcon is the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love doing this which is why I\u2019m still out here, if I didn\u2019t it would be time to get out,\u201d Knowles Jr. said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to share some of your experiences with units that are getting ready to deploy, help guide them and keep everybody we\u2019re supporting safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowles concurs and said there\u2019s nowhere he\u2019d rather be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to get away from my desk, it\u2019s fun, educational and lots of hard work,\u201d Knowles said. \u201cIt\u2019s something most people will never understand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1st Lt. Justin Knowles (left), military intelligence officer, 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, shares a joke with his father Lt. Col. John Knowles Jr, veterinarian, 2nd Medical Training Brigade, Medical Readiness Training Command, June 2, Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. Both father and son are officers in the Army Reserve and part of Mojave Falcon 25, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468990,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=468988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468993,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468988\/revisions\/468993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/468990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=468988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=468988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=468988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}