FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- Lots of significant things happened in 1976. It was the birth year of Apple Computer Company; NASA managed to put two Viking landers safely on the surface of Mars; Jack Nicholson starred in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest;" and the Eagles released "Hotel California."
It was also the year Command Sgt. Maj. Neil L. Ciotola took the U.S. Armed Forces Oath of Enlistment.
More than 35 years, countless assignments and four combat deployments later, Ciotola, the command sergeant major for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, will officially retire from the U.S. Army at a ceremony Dec. 1 at Fort Hood, Texas. His term at IMCOM concludes Nov. 17 at the change of command ceremony, 10 a.m. on the Fort Sam Houston parade field.
"I am content in everything that I have achieved and everything that I have done for the United States Army," said Ciotola, a New Jersey native. "It has been the fulfillment of my childhood dream to wear this uniform. If I had an opportunity to do it all over again, I'd do it all over again."
However, Ciotola said he is looking forward to retirement, just being known as "Neil" and taking a few months off to spend time with his wife of 31 years, Beth Ciotola.
"I've been doing this for over three and a half decades," said Ciotola. "My boots feel heavy on my feet. It is time for younger, more capable men and women to go ahead and take my place."
Ciotola expressed his gratitude for getting to finish his career with IMCOM and said that he jumped at the opportunity because it gave him the chance to learn about a side of the Army he was not as familiar with.
"To come down here and to be assimilated into this organization, this command, is to truly be immersed into the business side of the Army," he said.
Ciotola admitted that he also learned quite a bit about the role civilian employees play in the Army, acknowledging that most of the IMCOM headquarters staff are civilians. Only 63 Soldiers work in the headquarters.
"What I've come to realize is that, by and large, every one of the civilians who work in this institution--they're a Soldier in their own right, and they've got a Soldier's heart," he said. "It is just amazing--the depth of talent and the insight and just the capacity of the people here, individually and collectively, just defies explanation sometimes."
He added that he does not think there is any task, short of deploying into combat, that IMCOM could not accomplish as well as a primarily military-based command.
After taking a few months off to spend time with his wife, Ciotola plans to finish college requirements and become a schoolteacher.
"In the twilight of my career, and I'm going to say the last 15-16 years of my career, what I realized was: 'it has never been about me; it is about lifting everybody else up that's around you,'" he said.
Ciotola, who intends to stay in the San Antonio area after he retires, plans to take this philosophy to his community and to the children of his community.
"If the Army ever needs me, it knows where to find me, but I want to make my community a better place to live," said Ciotola. "I want to make our kids better."
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