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NavyDT
03-04-2010, 10:34 PM
My Name is B.A. Foster and i grew up in Oregon. about 12 years ago my father bought me a Whites Classic SL ID because they have a manufacturing facility in our little town of sweet home.

i remember going down to the showroom with dreams of finding a lost treasure in my head, saying Yarr every chance i got. Like most 13 year old kids with no one else interested in the hobby i dug my first 50 targets mostly being the usual nails, bottle tops and pull tabs. for my 4 hours of hard work i may have gotten less than 57 cents and being the only kid in the park with a Metal Detector i gave up shortly there after. The dreams of greatness quietly echoing in my mind until slowly fading into nothingness. The Whites was tucked into the closet to *almost* never be seen again.

i joined the navy as a corpsman and attended fleet marine service school in Camp Pendleton and found myself as a &quot:grin:OC stationed in Okinawa JP. i was lucky enough to go on a year and a half deployment with the marines.

During that time i got to travel around and i found myself in places i had only dreamed about in my younger years and really gained a real appreciation for history and culture. i learned that the sight of very old coins and relics had some deep seeded sway on me and something instinctively drew my eyes to look at them when ever i was at a museum or private collection.

after my return to the united states i thought i was going to be back for a while and could enjoy settling down and starting a family, well as anyone else who has been in can attest my plans were waylayed and i got to spend a nice summer vacation with the US and British army on camp bastion in Afghanistan.

during that time i met a British combat medic who was an avid detectorist and in between casualty's i would listen to him recount story's of all the amazing relics and artifacts he had found from all periods of history across Europe during the course of his career in detecting...

i got home to the united states last November and the rush and excitement of seeing my family and daughter all but washed the dirt stained detecting story's from my mind... but the perpetual darkness of a Mid-Western winter has a way of making minds wander back down forgotten pathways to memory's and story's we thought were long forgotten, and i started to recount my friends old tales of dirt, digging, sweat and glory.

The cold tundra has all but shut me off from the outside world and the quest for information has taken me to all corners of the internet seeking information on the hobby which inevitably lead me to this site and the amazing group of people who make up this community.

so here i am, a humble newly converted detectorist looking to learn all i can from the priceless community knowledge with a hope that some day i can give back what i have already been given, a chance to share my story's of the hunt with others that enjoy the hobby as much as i already do.

Very Respectfully,
B.A Foster

xzlr8n
03-04-2010, 11:08 PM
Sounds like you have the makings of a fine detectorist. Welcome aboard from Upstate NY and thank you for serving our country thumbsup01!!

Ill Digger
03-05-2010, 12:41 AM
Welcome to the forum from the frozen corn fields of Illinois :grin:
This is your last chance to escape the sickness :crazy:
Just joking...you'll love it...and your friend is right...soon you'll be telling stories and showing off your treasures.
To US !!! :drool: lol
Glad to have you along !
Good luck & HH :grin:

del
03-05-2010, 03:29 AM
first off B.A. Foster thank you very much for your service and sacrifice to defend this great land of ours ;) and welcome to the A.D. forum . that was a great intro and sounds like you would have alot of interesting stories to tell . i hope you stay awhile and soak up any info that you need and please don't hesitate to ask some questions , thats what this place is all about.

Dan

Lowjiber
03-05-2010, 06:49 AM
Welcome to the hobby and the forum Brian.

Thank you for your service in these tough times.

Make yourself at home...you're among friends.

Epi-hunter
03-05-2010, 07:18 AM
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the excellent background story! We are glad you found us! thumbsup01

angellionel
03-05-2010, 08:18 AM
Welcome to the forum! You will enjoy the hobby, and here you can share what you have found with other fellow detectorists. Have fun!

coinnut
03-05-2010, 01:16 PM
Thanks for giving us a try and for that great story. :yes: We all appreciate anyone's service to this country. After all, that is what gives us the freedom and opportunity to pursue our hobby of detecting. thumbsup01 Please read some of the posts here to give you an idea of what machines are out there. The finds will come with experience. We are here to help you in any way we can , just ask. Again, welcome aboard.

NavyDT
03-05-2010, 07:56 PM
Thanks to everyone who read my post :tongue:

Lowjiber was kind enough to teach me how to use my new MXT. ive been out with it a few times with it in the last few days and im still getting the hang of it :tongue: i hope to get to spend some good time this weekend and hopefully things thaw out so i can start hitting some parks for some older coins :tongue:

RickO
03-07-2010, 06:26 PM
Welcome aboard B.A. Foster, and thank you for your service - from an old Navy man here. HH RickO

Ferrous
03-07-2010, 09:25 PM
Helloooo from Idahoooo, welcome and I might add. you're going to love this hobby. thumbsup01

SeabeeRon
03-08-2010, 10:21 AM
Glad to see you here Mr Foster, welcome aboard from another Navy man! 8)