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Sgt. First Class Calvin Jones
It would be tough to find something in a dining facility still good a week, even a month, after it arrived. More difficult would be finding something good after 19 years had passed. That is, until meeting Sgt. First Class Calvin Jones.
Nearing 20 years in the active duty Army, Jones is still doing the one and only job he has had since joining, food service specialist.
Jones works in the Coalition Café, also known as the Task Force Marne Dining Facility, where he maintains high-level service to the visitors of the facility through a supervisory role.
With time steadily grinding toward his retirement, which he plans to take shortly after returning home from this deployment, Jones has set his sights on the future. Currently pursuing an associate’s degree in Hotel Restaurant Management, he plans on finding a job in that field.
“Basically the civilian sector food service industry is similar to food service in the military,” said Jones. “A lot of the classes that I would have to take my military experience will knock out. So, I think I’m ahead of the game in that area as far as getting my degree.
He doesn’t rely only on his military experience, though. When he last re-enlisted Jones said he took advantage of a school option incentive that allowed him to go to a school of his choice for six months. He attended Tidewater Community College in pursuit of his associate’s degree. Combining that with the online courses, Jones said he’s completed 90 percent of his school while in the Army.
Online courses can be difficult for some to keep up with. With Jones having five children at home, it could be easy to wonder where he finds the time to further his education. The answer is deployments – eight of them.
“My first 10 years I was only deployed once, maybe twice,” he said. “The last nine years they’ve pretty much got me. It’s been pretty much every other year that I’ve been deployed. Some were back to back.”
Deployments can be hard on families, but Jones said having a spouse in the military has made it easier for him at times.
“Fortunately my wife is military also,” he said, “so on a couple of the deployments she was deployed with me. We had opportunities to see each other once a month or so on some of the deployments.
“I’ve missed a lot with my children like them learning how to walk. I’ve left with them crawling and come back and they were walking and talking. That’s been the toughest part,” Jones said.
Through the hard times and the good he has stuck with the Army. Joining the Army was not a difficult decision he said.
“I think it was more tradition than anything,” he said. “Both of my uncles were in the military. My brother joined when he graduated high school, and I have a lot of friends that also joined the military. So, it was just kind of a tradition. Not really a family tradition, but a neighborhood tradition.”
If his children decide to look into joining the Army, Jones said, he would certainly give them his input, but he would leave that decision to them.
“The military can be a good experience for some people. It depends on what you want out of life. College is one reason to join the military and serve your country. Having college tuition is great. I wouldn’t tell anyone not to join, just make sure it’s for you because there are a lot of things that once you join you have to go through that a lot of people are not ready for,” Jones said.
All and all he has enjoyed his time in the Army, he said. Traveling, school, medical and dental benefits and a stable income are the things Jones said he has liked most. He pointed out that there are not many jobs a person can retire from after 20 years and get full medical benefits, which he says are getting progressively more expensive in the civilian sector.
Adding to his retirement benefits Jones plans to retire in Alabama where his brother recently retired from service. Alabama is one of the few states that do not tax retirements, he said. Plus, he said, his mother and sisters live there.
Jones had one piece of advice from his military service. “I would suggest not being dual-military (married military couples). It’s kind of hard being dual-military in the Army, especially during deployments. You have to worry about yourself and then you also have to worry about your spouse. ‘What’s going on with her? Is she alright? How is she doing? Is she in danger?’
“Sometimes it gets pretty hectic, but that’s about the only negative thing I can say about the military. Other than that it’s been great to me and I can’t complain about it.”
