{"id":48634,"date":"2020-01-14T13:34:49","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T13:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/14\/59-year-old-afghanistan-veteran-will-report-to-army-basic-training-this-summer\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:59:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:59:50","slug":"59-year-old-afghanistan-veteran-will-report-to-army-basic-training-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/01\/14\/59-year-old-afghanistan-veteran-will-report-to-army-basic-training-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"59-year-old Afghanistan veteran will report to Army basic training this summer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a 10-year break in service, Staff Sgt. Monte L. Gould will have to report to basic combat training<\/a> this June at Fort Jackson<\/a>, South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 59-year-old former Marine and civil affairs soldier<\/a> was less than three years short of retirement when he left the Army in 2009 to move home and spend more time with his family. But after work calmed down in his civilian life, Gould began a year-long process to reenlist with an Army Reserve unit so that he can be eligible for retirement and maybe give something back to younger troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of cool that they get to see somebody who is 59 and isn\u2019t all fat, beat up with diabetes and on their death bed,\u201d said Gould, who still practices jiu jitsu and rucks with 50-pounds for seven miles each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He will be joining the same unit as his son, Spc. Jarrod Gould, at the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion\u2019s detachment out of Las Vegas, Nevada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m lucky, I got 20 more years and then I drop dead,\u201d Gould added. \u201cTo me, this is a last hurrah. To have the opportunity to serve again is a thrill. I\u2019m looking down the gun barrel at 60, and I know all the health problems that come after that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he\u2019s been out of the service for so long, though, he\u2019ll have to attend basic training first. But he isn\u2019t the oldest person to ever do so, according to U.S. Army Recruiting Command<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmazingly this 59-year-old is NOT the oldest person to go through basic,” said USAREC spokeswoman Lisa M. Ferguson in an email. \u201cIn July 1999, a 68-year-old shipped to basic training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gould was a civil affairs specialist prior to leaving the Army Reserve<\/a> in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He first joined the Marine Corps in 1978 before separating to work in law enforcement in California. Around the time Operation Desert Storm<\/a> kicked off, Gould got the itch to rejoin the service and enlisted in the Army National Guard as an infantryman. In the early 2000s, he tried to put in a package to attend Special Forces Assessment and Selection<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe guy laughed at me; he said you\u2019re too old,\u201d Gould recalled. \u201cI was like 40 at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gould deployed to Afghanistan in the early 2000s, where he served alongside French forces. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Instead, he joined civil affairs through an Army Reserve unit in Upland, California. He eventually got his deployment to Afghanistan in 2004, serving as a civil affairs team sergeant alongside Commando Hubert forces, which are France\u2019s frogmen, he noted. Then Gould switched jobs again to psychological operations and joined the 7th Psychological Operations Group, which is garrisoned at Moffett Field, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the late aughts, Gould was traveling frequently across the state, working SWAT for the California Department of Corrections. His wife wasn\u2019t appreciative of this workload and, rather than face another deployment that could prove problematic for his personal life, Gould chose to leave the service to work in security consultancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things started to calm down for Gould. His son had previously enlisted as an infantryman and was switching to the Army Reserve to be a civil affairs specialist like his father. That\u2019s when Gould, now retired from his other ventures, got the itch again. Thankfully, his wife gave him the green light to try enlisting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI miss the comradeship,” he said. \u201cI don\u2019t miss the Army. I miss being on a team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process wasn\u2019t exactly smooth. After losing 45 pounds to meet height and weight requirements, filing his paperwork to enlist and going through the waiver process, Gould was initially rejected by the Army for his age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy recruiter told me \u2018you\u2019re done. There\u2019s nothing else I can do,’\u201d he said. \u201cSo I called my congressman and I called a buddy of mine who is at the Pentagon … and I submitted all my paperwork up and we got it to the G-1.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gould credited his recruiter, Sgt. 1st Class Richard Caroll, for helping him navigate the bureaucratic maze. Caroll \u201cworked hours and hours at home doing paperwork” to help him reenlist, Gould said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe regulation says one thing, then it says another,\u201d Caroll explained. \u201cWe went back and forth and then eventually it was him contacting people he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Regulation 601\u2013210 allows waivers for prior service soldiers who can qualify for retired pay by age 62 \u2014 and who have been granted a waiver permitting enlistment over 55 years of age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had high hopes. I like a challenge, and this was pretty challenging,\u201d Caroll said. \u201cBut we had regulation on our side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Gould finally reports to basic training this summer, he\u2019ll retain his staff sergeant rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what they told me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll wear my combat patches. I\u2019ll wear my rank. Whole nine yards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retirement may have been the motivator to return, but it\u2019s not the endgame. Gould said he plans to stay in the service as long as he can, even if that means deployments. Working with young soldiers will undoubtedly put him in the position of role model, as well, he conceded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI look at them like they\u2019re my kids,” Gould said. “And that\u2019s kind of an onus on me. Particularly because of my age, I have to be much more composed, much more of an example and I have to be much more professional.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“If I\u2019m lucky, I got 20 more years and then I drop dead,” the 59-year-old soldier 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