{"id":117091,"date":"2019-11-12T11:57:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T18:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=117091"},"modified":"2019-12-28T14:09:54","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T21:09:54","slug":"qa-with-army-veteran-nathan-kriss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=117091","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with Army veteran Nathan Kriss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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U.S. Army veteran and UCCS information systems major Nathan Kriss. Photo credit: Nathan Kriss.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Often named one of the most military-friendly universities in the country, UCCS has always had strong ties with its military-affiliated and veteran communities. In honor of Veterans Week, read a profile of UCCS student and military veteran Nathan Kriss, who spent nine years in the U.S. Army. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a veteran and member of the Army Reserve, Kriss maintains a strong connection with the military community in Colorado Springs through his work at the Fort Carson Education Center, where he helps soldiers, veterans and their families pursue higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q: Tell us about your experience in the\nmilitary.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

My military career began in August 2007 at Fort Benning, Georgia \u2013 the home of the infantry! I spent nine weeks in the hot and humid city of Fort Benning, Georgia, being broken down and reshaped as someone else. At the end of those nine weeks, I marched across the parade field and was no longer the person I had once been. I was someone new\u2026I was a soldier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training didn\u2019t stop there. Before I knew it, I was in\nFort Sill, Oklahoma, the home of the field artillery, where I was learning to\nbe an Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System Specialist. For the next eight\nweeks, I endeavored to learn my job and graduated in early December. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, my first military assignment was at\nCamp Hovey, South Korea. I spent a year there, which was the normal tour of\nduty at the time, and before I knew it, I was leaving on to my next assignment,\nand on to new opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Where did you go next?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The next stop in my journey was Fort Riley, Kansas. I spent four years deploying not once, but twice, to Iraq and Afghanistan. Whilst I was still in Afghanistan, I made the choice to re-enlist for an additional four years, and I requested to be assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 2013, I bid farewell to Fort Riley and\nreported to Fort Carson shortly after. I deployed for the last time to Kuwait.\nUpon returning from Kuwait, I fulfilled my remaining service obligation and on\nJuly 26, 2016 I drove off of Fort Carson for the last time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After nine years of military service, I gave it all up.\nIt was time for me to hang up the uniform and put the boots away. I decided to\npursue my education at UCCS and began taking classes in January of 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t the end of the story, though. As a veteran,\nmy service might have officially stopped, but I continued to serve beyond the\nuniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What have you been up to since transitioning\ninto civilian life?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I am currently pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in information systems here at UCCS. I applied to and was accepted to work at the Fort Carson Education Center, where I continue to assist hundreds of soldiers, veterans and their families pursue their higher education needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also worked as a peer advisor within the UCCS Office\nof Veteran and Military Affairs. My role as a peer advisor was to assist\nmilitary-affiliated students start their time at UCCS on the right foot and\noffer any assistance, no matter the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I worked at the Family Development Center performing\njanitorial duties to keep the facility clean and safe for the young children\nwho go there to learn. I also have had the honor of being a member of the\nNational Society of Leadership and Success, and a member of the Mountain Lion\nLeadership Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How do you keep your connection to the\nmilitary community strong?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Two years after I separated from the military, I felt myself missing the Army! During the summer and fall of 2018, I decided to enlist once again in the Army Reserves. I have been serving in the Army Reserve for the past year. I continue to pursue my bachelor\u2019s degree on top of my two jobs, and the organizations I am a member of at UCCS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What has your transition into civilian life\nbeen like?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The transition from soldier to student was not easy, and it took several months to re-learn how to be a civilian. I am proud to say that while I have mostly accomplished that task, some things just don\u2019t ever go away. For me it was and continues to be my love of helping soldiers, veterans and their families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to close with this final thought from former General of the Army Douglas MacArthur: \u201cDuty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Veterans Day 2019 events on campus this week<\/a><\/blockquote>