SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Illinois (10 March 2017) - U.S. Army Reserve Col. Nathan "Nate" Storck, Reserve Affairs Officer for the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, was celebrated for his 30-plus-years of service during a retirement ceremony held in his honor at the Airlifter Hall on Scott Air Force Base. Maj. Gen. Kurt J. Ryan, SDDC Commanding General, officiated the ceremony.
Storck served at SDDC for approximately four years where he performed duties as the chief liaison between SDDC's Army Reserve unit, the Deployment Support Command, and the senior leadership of SDDC.
Upon entering Airlifter Hall, Storck was met by a standing-room-only audience comprised of his family, friends, past and present fellow service members and mentors, as well as every member of SDDC's senior leadership.
"Nate, you served your country exceptionally for three decades, and for that, the American people thank you," said Ryan. "And now you get to have the great distinction to add a very important abbreviation to your signature, open-parenthesis and the letters R, E, and T, followed by a closed parentheses."
"Always remember, no matter where you are in the world, for the rest of your life, you will be part of an elite group of life-long Soldiers who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to the defense of our great nation, and for that, I thank you," Ryan added.
Ryan went on to include a little known fact that both he and Storck had pinned on the rank of Second Lieutenant on the same day in 1987.
During the ceremony, Ryan presented Storck with the Legion of Merit, the Saint Christopher Medal, and his Certificate of Retirement.
When Storck was a young boy, his parents settled in Centralia, Illinois where he lived with his brothers Kurt and Mark. It was from there he developed a deep love for Southern Illinois and the St. Louis Cardinals. Even though his heart lied in Illinois, he always felt a calling to serve his nation.
"I read a book when I was in the fourth grade called 'Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy' by Donald Burgett," said Storck, "and from that moment on I knew I wanted to serve my country in the U.S. Army, I wanted to jump out of planes, and I wanted to do it all while serving in the historic 101st Airborne."
During his 30-plus-years of service to his nation, he found himself in the deserts of the Middle East, Camp Howze in Korea, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and back home in Southern Illinois working for SDDC.
He went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Agronomy, and received his master's degree in Soil Conservation Management from the University of Tennessee -- Knoxville.
Storck is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, Advanced Joint Professional Military Education Course, Army Force Management Course, Inspector General Course, and numerous courses that allowed him to shape his career.
A graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School, he served multiple roles in the Army, including time as an Infantryman, Reserve Force Advisor, Inspector General, Chief of Staff, and his final assignment at SDDC -- which he said was "one of the favorite and most meaningful positions of my career."
While his next chapter is still unwritten, Storck said his service to his nation was everything he wished it would be, and is leaving the force with a "full-heart and a mind full of memories."
He made one thing very clear about why he joined, and what he will always do in his life.
"I am passionate about this country, and about the United States Constitution. Being in the military was my way to support, honor, and defend the Constitution -- and those are more than words to me," he said. "No matter what I do in my life, I will always continue to support and defend my nation and the Constitution in every way possible."
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