Retired Soldier Deploys as Civilian

[unhappycamper]

Retired Soldier Deploys as Civilian
October 22, 2009
American Forces Press Service|by Cathy Hopkins

RICHMOND, Va. - Darren Costine retired from the Army in 2001, but with 22 years of service under his belt, the former first sergeant said, the Army is still in his blood.

That's why he volunteered to return to the Middle East for six months as a civilian support representative for Defense Logistics Agency.

Costine, who lives in Chester, Va., is a weapon system support manager for rotary aircraft engines and ground support equipment. He works in the Army Customer Facing Division at Defense Supply Center Richmond, the agency's aviation demand and supply chain manager. His active duty experiences in the Army included tours in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Korea and Alaska.

In February, Costine went to Iraq as a member of a DLA Support Team. He said he had wanted to deploy a couple years earlier so he could join his son, who was deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. But that didn't work out, and he ended up leaving as his son was returning.

Costine found a totally different Army than he remembered when he arrived in Iraq. "The weapons were different. I used an M16 when I was in," he said. The Army's primary individual combat rifle now is the M4. "The soldiers' attitudes are very much a wartime attitude. A lot of soldiers now are coming into the military and going straight into deployment."


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/army-news/retired-soldier-deploys-as-civilian.html?col=1186032369115



unhappycamper comment: Join the Army and see the world. True in 1940 and again today.