Students and Soldiers
Two students share what they have learned on campus and in the military
Daniel Flatt
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: News
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Along with being students, Kinnard and Gary are both in the U.S. military and have served in Iraq. While both have handled their dual roles in society differently, the two tell a similar story of attaining success from their experiences as students and soldiers.
Bill Kinnard
Industrial Technology
Kinnard, 30, joined the Tennessee National Guard in 1997 with the intent of paying his college tuition. While admitting his hesitance about joining, Kinnard said his days in the military have served him well.
"Even though I don't like the fact that men and women are having to sacrifice their lives doing what they're doing for their country," Kinnard said. "I have to admit that that deployment was probably one of the best things that happened in my life, because of the way I am now versus the way I was then."
After serving a couple years in the Guard and then two more years in school at Tech, Kinnard was deployed to Iraq in 2004 to work in intelligence operations.
During his deployment he witnessed a third world country where children with bare feet walked around in the sands of impoverished villages. Here, the citizens did not have sufficient medical supplies and were trucked weekly loads of water that were poured into a large, exposed reservoir.
"Just seeing all of that stuff that goes on in the villages is motivation itself that makes you appreciate what you have back in the states," Kinnard said. "Just makes you want to better yourself. If you see things like that, you don't want your family to go through that. It just motivates me."
"When you're over there, you don't have anything but time to think. You're either on a mission or you're just hanging out in your quarters with nothing to do but think about 'what am I going to do when I get home?' or 'where's my life led up to at this point?'"
Kinnard stayed in Iraq working on operations with his unit until the winter of 2005. Though his transition from student to being on active duty went smoothly, he said the adjustment to civilian and college life was a tumultuous one.
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