Photo By Staff Sgt. V. Michelle Woods | U.S. Army Spc. Lyle Carter, a wheeled vehicle driver with the 396th Transportation...... read more read more
AFGHANISTAN - While soldiers his age were closing in on retirement after serving 20 years in the military, a 36-year-old accountant from Jacksonville, Fla., was enduring the terror of drill sergeants and the rigorous and demanding schedule of Army basic combat training.
Spc. Lyle Carter, a heavy wheeled vehicle driver with the 396th Transportation Company, 157th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Task Force Durable, spent 12 years establishing his career as an accountant when he decided to join the Army.
“I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that it is something I could do and I wanted to do,” said Carter, who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. “My wife fell ill and I knew what kind of health benefits the Army offered, and I knew that would help my family.”
The self-described tenacious and motivated soldier said he originally joined the Army because of the health benefits but found the military lifestyle suited him well.
“I serve first and foremost because of my wife,” said Carter, who has been married for 11 years. “Secondly, I serve because I’ve fallen in love with it. That's the aspect of my career that I never thought would happen. I figured I'd do it because I needed the benefits and now I think "wow, I get paid for this; this is kind of cool."
In the four years since he joined the military, Carter said the Army has motivated him to do things he would never normally do. He said he has surprised himself in his abilities thanks to the opportunities he has been afforded through his service.
“I love it, I love the job, I love what I do,” he said. “I like running and rucking. I liked the BCT experience. I learned that I could repel off of a tower. I didn't know that I could do that.”
Carter said since joining his physical fitness has greatly improved and he lost 50 pounds in BCT.
Convoy escort team commander 1st Lt. Brandon Liberator, 396th TC, described Carter as hard-working and dependable.
“He is eager to learn and always does what he's asked to do,” he said.
Since he's deployed he has been awarded with the "High Miler Award," given by his company for excellence in the field.
“It seems like every time I turn around something good has happened and I like that,” he said. “I like career progression. My goal when coming to Afghanistan was to set myself up to be a sergeant and I became promotable last June.”
Carter said he has one particular person who has mentored and inspired him in his military career. Retired Sgt. Maj. Robert Burnell was Carter’s neighbor at his first duty station.
“I respect him because he is from the Vietnam era,” said Carter. “He's a wealth of knowledge. He's still very much Army and so squared-away. He is still a Soldier at heart to this very day.”
The 396th TC’s primary mission is to provide a convoy escort element to Afghan truckers who transport supplies and equipment. Carter said another positive experience he’s had in his military career is learning different aspects of his job and seeing and doing things that are normally only seen on TV.
“When my sergeant and I have to dismount from a convoy, my sergeant assists whoever needs help and I'm standing back pulling security, so I’ve learned a whole new element of being a truck driver,” added Carter. “It's exciting. It's seeing things I’ve never seen before. I've directed traffic in downtown Kabul, not many people can say they’ve done that.”
Although he said he loves his job, Carter added that being away from his family is the hardest part of being a soldier.
“It's hard but I try to set my family up in a way so we can have success,” he said.
Carter said he intends to make the military a career and possibly change his job in the future in order to gain experience in another field of the Army.
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2013 03:07 |
| Story ID: | 102677 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Why we serve: Spc. Lyle Carter, by SSG V. Michelle Woods, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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