Serving his country and its Soldiers is a passion for Thomas Young, one that will continue long after he retires from civil service this month.
Although Young will retire as a logistics management specialist in the Army Materiel Command's Logistic Support Activity on April 30, he still expects to serve Soldiers.
"I plan to work with senior citizens and support them in their helps and their needs, to get where they need to go and do what they need to do. I also plan to help some of the disabled veterans. Right now we have a lot of Soldiers going through a lot of combat stress syndrome situations, so I plan to go more into that when I get out," he said.
Young served his country as a Soldier for 30 years before retiring from the military. He worked in the private sector for a few years before deciding to become a civil servant and serve Soldiers around the world for more than 20 years.
"When you have Soldiers in combat, they have a need. I have a desire to provide that need, whether it's just a piece of information they want or something they need to help with their systems reporting their data or status. That's what I enjoy doing," he said.
"Sometimes it's challenging because of the different hours you have to work. You might end up having to come in early or you might end up having to stay late in order to meet the needs of that Soldier in the field. That is the thing that I understand even as a civilian because it started with me in the military."
Young was born in Mississippi but grew up in Detroit. He joined the Army in 1958 after graduating from Northern High School. While in the Army, he was stationed at various places including Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Fort Bliss, Texas; Gross-Sachsenheim, Lich and Datteln in Germany; Detroit; Okinawa, Japan; and Redstone Arsenal.
He retired as a sergeant major Dec. 31, 1988. He had come to Redstone in February 1986 and was a commandant at the NCO Academy. After that he worked for a few civilian government contracting companies before deciding to go into civil service.
He attended the School of Engineering and Logistics at Red River Army Depot and completed his training at the Aviation and Missile Command before being assigned to the Logistics Support Activity.
"I'm proud to have gone through the logistics school and the support I've been able to provide to different organizations throughout. As a logistician, we maintain logistics data for the Army," he said. "It has been enjoyable. It's great to maintain our contact with Soldiers throughout the world. Sitting here this morning, you might get a call from Afghanistan, Iraq or wherever. That's just the way the Army works. That's being a logistician."
He and his wife, Vivian, were married in 1960. They have four grown children: Melvin lives in New Orleans, Thomas A. lives in Atlanta, and Delores and Jessica live in the Huntsville-Madison area. Although both his military career and his civil service career were demanding, Young said his family did well.
"It was good. It worked well for me and my family never had a problem with it. We were blessed to be able to end up together on all the assignments except the last one," he said. "The last tour was the one my kids enjoyed the most because they liked attending the British schools (in the British section of Germany)."
Over the years, Young's wife worked at different places. She had a job with AAFES in Lich, Germany. She worked as a nurse in downtown Huntsville as well as with Fox Army Health Center. She also worked in computer science at the Research Development and Engineering Center. Now retired, she is a coordinator for the North Alabama Medical Reserve Corps.
"The point of it all was, this was good for me to be able to provide for and support my family and give them a meaningful life. They got to experience foreign countries, too. For a while, when my kids were small, they thought everyone got to do that," Young said.
He is actively involved with Progressive Union Church on Brandontown Road. He plans to work with disabled veterans through the church. Once he retires, he also plans to travel and visit family and friends across the country.
"What I'd really like to do is go spend some time with my brothers and sisters in Detroit," he said. "Then I'll probably travel some and see friends in Texas and North and South Carolina."
He has been happy with his career and all that it has given him.
"First and foremost I want to thank God for being in my life even before I knew him," he said. "I have supported the Soldier and civilians throughout my government career. They are who I worked for. And I have enjoyed working with my co-workers, both the military and the civilians. I think they've done a terrific job. I appreciate the job they've done and the efforts we've put forth as a team."
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