Who is Barry S. Ricoma? A native of Brooklyn, New York, a Father to one son (Ryan), and a 21-year Veteran of the Military Armed Forces (U.S. Army). Currently, residing in Hawthorne, Nevada Barry continues his service to the Armed forces, working as a Quality Assurance Specialist Ammunition Surveillance Inspector at Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot.
What Are You About Barry? My profession affords me the opportunity to travel the world supporting soldiers from all the armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force & Marine Corps) ensuring that they have the best equipment at their disposal. When not working I can be found engaging in my passion for the great outdoors. Whether it be cruising the highways on my motorcycle (201 8 Harley- Davidson Fat Bob) or enjoying nature to its fullest beauty when camping in the nearby National Forests located in California. It is my thirst for adventure and the desire to experience what life has to offer on his personal journey that has brought this uniquely fun opportunity to explore a new creative outlet as an aspiring author.
My personal mission and vision are to simply share my love for travel and the outdoors. Hopefully inspire others through examples of both my failures and achievements.
Where did your core values, principles, and ideologies come from? My mother had and continues to have the most impact on my life. My time in the military is where I learned the Army Values of: LOYALTY Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers. Bearing true faith and allegiance is a matter of believing in and devoting yourself to something or someone. A loyal Soldier is one who supports the leadership and stands up for fellow Soldiers. By wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army, you are expressing your loyalty. And by doing your share, you show your loyalty to your unit. DUTY Fulfill your obligations. Doing your duty means more than carrying out your assigned tasks. Duty means being able to accomplish tasks as part of a team.
The work of the U.S. Army is a complex combination of missions, tasks, and responsibilities — all in constant motion. Our work entails building one assignment onto another. You fulfill your obligations as a part of your unit every time you resist the temptation to take “shortcuts” that might undermine the integrity of the final product.
RESPECT Treat people as they should be treated.
In the Soldier’s Code, we pledge to “treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same.” Respect is what allows us to appreciate the best in other people. Respect is trusting that all people have done their jobs and fulfilled their duty. And self-respect is a vital ingredient with the Army value of respect, which results from knowing you have put forth your best effort. The Army is one team and each of us has something to contribute. SELFLESS SERVICE Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person. In serving your country, you are doing your duty loyally without thought of recognition or gain.
The basic building block of selfless service is the commitment of each team member to go a little further, endure a little longer, and look a little closer to see how he or she can add to the effort. HONOR Live up to Army values. The nation’s highest military award is The Medal of Honor. This award goes to Soldiers who make honor a matter of daily living — Soldiers who develop the habit of being honorable and solidify that habit with every value choice they make. Honor is a matter of carrying out, acting, and living the values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity, and personal courage in everything you do. INTEGRITY Do what’s right, legally, and morally. Integrity is a quality you develop by adhering to moral principles. It requires that you do and say nothing that deceives others. As your integrity grows, so does the trust others place in you.
The more choices you make based on integrity, the more this highly prized value will affect your relationships with family and friends, and, finally, the fundamental acceptance of yourself. PERSONAL COURAGE Face fear, danger, or adversity (physical or moral). Personal courage has long been associated with our Army. With physical courage, it is a matter of enduring physical duress and at times risking personal safety. Facing moral fear or adversity may be a long, slow process of continuing forward on the right path, especially if taking those actions is not popular with others. You can build your personal courage by daily standing up for and acting upon the things that you know are honorable. Over the course of my many years I have endured struggles, not only tested the core of each value but also my resolve in adhering to those value regardless of may have acted towards or against me.
We all have great hopes for our lives and a dream we would like to see come true. What were yours? By nature, I consider myself a protector. My family, friends, country, and the defenseless. Having said that, I think at the core, I just want to help people and be of service in any form.
Were you always in pursuit of your dreams or just moseying along life’s journey and stumbled into them? Yes. I was always and in fact still am in pursuit of my dreams. Naturally, as I accomplish one I am in search of my next dream/goal. Although there are occasions where I have had dreams present themselves without me realizing that is what I wanted for myself. Case in point, I was presented an opportunity to become author and through that sparking my creative talents in writing which in turn opened the door to becoming a Contributing Writer for this Magazine.
How did you apply your core values in your life, career, or business to ensure you achieved your goals? As I said earlier, I have faced many difficult challenges in my life and the foundation of the Army Values was pivotal in developing the man I am today.
Share a moment (an Aha moment) in your life when you realized exactly what it is you were meant to do? or are you still waiting for it to happen? Truthfully, I am still learning what my Divine purpose is. Regardless of where the journey takes me, I’ll be doing it on TWO WHEELS!😉🏍 “Love what you do and do what you love…you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Were you blessed enough to do what you love? If so, how did you make that happen? What is it that you love to do? Yes. I am currently working for the Department of Defense (DoD) as a Quality Assurance Specialist Ammunition Surveillance (QASAS) inspector. Basically, what that entails is I inspect the non- nuclear or conventional ammunition used by all branches of the Military for serviceability ensuring that in times of war and conflict that the munitions my fellow brothers and sisters in Arms use are safe, reliable, & lethal.
What about your confidence, were you always a confident and fearless individual or did both come along with life experiences and perseverance? No, I wasn’t always confident. In fact, I was pretty shy and very introverted. As I got older I was still shy, but I masked that by being funny through silly playfulness and sarcastic wit. It wasn’t until I started my military career that I began to develop my sense of self-worth for which the Army Values help to forge my character moving forward. The military is designed to test your mettle as an individual to show you what you are capable of doing while simultaneously forcing you to be exposed to people, places, and situations out of your comfort zone in the hopes of developing team building and bonds with your fellow Soldiers. It is through these experiences that I have developed my confidence and strengthened bonds that have lasted 33 years now. The military shaped how I saw myself as well as gave me the tools necessary to define how I wanted to present myself to the world around me. I’ve learned in my life that there are two types of people, Leaders, and Followers. Everyone has the capability to lead, not everyone is willing to follow.
In closing, how do you walk in your authentic self…good, bad, or ugly. How do you keep your head high even in the face of adversity? How do you OWN It! I walk in my authentic self through SELF LOVE. Some would say I have a bit of a Selfie addiction. ! You can’t expect people like/love you if you don’t have that same like/love for YOURSELF. It’s not hard to keep my head high because I look up towards GOD and my spirits/angels for strength and guidance. When your head is looking towards the ground you can’t see the Divine future that is waiting for you because the devil and his demons keep your head weighted down with fear and anxiety of not being good enough.
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Email: twowheeledfreedomofficial@gmail.com
Web: twowheeledfreedom.com
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