Something to celebrate

The 2005 Falls High School graduate enlisted in the U.S. Army fresh out of high school and has since been deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.

And for first time in seven years, Kostiuk will return to his hometown to celebrate the Fourth of July with his family.

“It is one of my favorite holidays,” Kostiuk said of the Fourth. “I’m really looking forward to coming home for it.”

It makes sense that the patriotic holiday is a favorite of Kostiuk’s, he said.

“I’ve always wanted to join the military and serve,” he said. “It seemed right.”

Now, with three deployments under his belt, Kostiuk said he is hanging up the hat on active duty and joining the Minnesota National Guarrd, which will allow him to spend more time with his wife, Andrea, and daughter, Anna. But the memories and knowledge he gained in the past eight years, he said is something he’ll continue to apply to his civilian life.

Getting started

After graduating from high school, Kostiuk attended St. Johns University in Collegeville, Minn. Once there, he joined the U.S. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a college-based program for training commissioned officers of the United States armed forces. When he graduated from college in 2009, he became a second lieutenant and lead 40 soldiers the first day on the job.

“After I graduated, I had a few months to get ready for active duty,” he said. “From leading 40 men and women from day one to preparing for deployment, it seemed like everything was moving pretty fast.”

Just a few weeks after graduation, Kostiuk was on his way to Oklahoma for seven weeks to train as a basic officer. He said the majority of the training was in transportation – his area of expertise.

From Oklahoma, he went to Virginia for four months and then on to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, before eventually deploying to Iraq.

“When I got to Fort Bliss, my unit had already been in Iraq for six to eight months and I would be joining them for the remainder of the deployment,” Kostiuk explained.

First deployment

One month before Kostiuk traveled halfway across the world, he married Andrea on Dec. 12, 2009. The newlyweds got little time together before Kostiuk left Jan. 23, 2010, for Iraq.

“It was definitely hard to leave my wife right away,” Kostiuk said.

On the plus side, however, he said timing couldn’t have been better since Andrea, who also serves in the military, had to report to San Antonio, Texas, for three months – an identical length to Kostiuk’s deployment.

“It worked out great,” he said. “There was only about a two-week period that she was home before I got there.”

During the deployment, Kostiuk said his unit spent a lot of time on the road running convoys from his base to surrounding bases.

“Things in Iraq were winding down while I was there,” he said. “The security structure was more stable.”

From one to the next

When Kostiuk returned to the U.S. in May 2010, he said he immediately began training for the next deployment scheduled for 13 months after his homecoming.

“We knew we would be deployed almost right away again,” he said of his unit. “We had time to get used to the idea.”

In the meantime, Kostiuk said he was promoted to a first lieutenant company executive officer.

While security purposes restricted Kostiuk from providing details of the work done during his second deployment, he noted that his unit was one of the last in Iraq and its purpose was to ensure a good transition for the Iraqi people.

“That deployment was only five months, so again I got lucky,” Kostiuk said.

Kostiuk said the homecoming from this deployment was different, however, because he welcomed a new member of his family into the world.

Five minutes after stepping off the plane onto U.S. soil Nov. 27, Kostiuk’s his father, Willi, had a cell phone waiting for him displaying a very special photo – Kostiuk’s daughter, Anna, who was only a few minutes old.

“It was hard not being there,” Kostiuk said of Anna’s arrival. “Needless to say, coming home and seeing that photo my daughter was a lot for one day – kind of a sensory overload.”

Kostiuk said it was about one week before he was able to travel to Minnesota, where Anna was born.

“It was a shock at first,” he said of the first time holding his daughter. “One week I was in Iraq and the next, I was holding my little girl.”

Interrupted routine

Not being present for Anna’s birth was one of the many things that Kostiuk said he missed during the first year of his daughter’s life.

“It helps that my wife is in the military, too, so she understands, but it is still hard,” he admitted.

After his second deployment, the family was able to spend about a month together and establish a routine.

“During that 30-day (leave) period, my whole plan was to pack up and bring everyone back to El Paso,” Kostiuk said, adding Andrea was staying in the Twin Cities while he was gone.

And that is what they did. The family headed south to their apartment in El Paso, not thinking anything would alter their plans.

The military had a different idea.

Kostiuk said when he was just a few hours out of El Paso, he received a call that he would deploy again in five months. This time, to Afghanistan.

“It was really hard,” he said. “I just met my daughter, I was moving my family down to Texas and I had no warning. Again, it was a lot to handle in one day.”

But, knowing the price that came with living a military life, Kostiuk said he and Andrea embraced what happened and moved anyway.

“We set up shop and I was there for about five months,” he said. “I was gone a lot for training and learning about the Afghan culture, but we were together as much as we could be.”

Not a typical role

Kostiuk deployed in May of 2012 and was surrounded by a non-typical army experience, he said.

“We were advisers to the Afghan police,” he explained.

The job included equipping officers with tactics and techniques and overall making them a more sustainable, educated force, Kostiuk said.

“We worked to refine their logistic system so that it was more efficient,” he continued.

Kostiuk added that the role included doing “literally everything” with the Afghan police. “We learned their language and their culture, we lived with them, we ate with them, we worked with them. Everything.”

Kostiuk called the nine-month experience “rewarding” and said, although he was doing a lot of the training, he was learning a lot himself.

“It was the best experience I’ve had in the army by far,” he said. “And again, even though it was my longest deployment, it was still short. I got lucky each time.”

And his efforts paid off. Near the end of the third deployment, Kostiuk and the rest of his team was awarded a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service performed during the deployment.

“It was nice to be recognized for the job we were doing,” a humbled Kostiuk said.

The medal is the fifth-highest combat decoration and the 10th highest U.S. military award in order of precedence.

“I was rewarded for learning things I’ll apply to the rest of my life,” Kostiuk said. “It is an honor. From that mission, I gained logistical, technical and leadership experience that I’ll carry with me as I work my way back into the civilian world.”

Worth celebrating

This month marked the end of Kostiuk’s four-year contract with the government, and although he was unclear about whether he would sign up again, he said he will not continue with active duty.

“I teeter tottered on the decision,” he said. “I know I made the right choice and now I’m going through the process of getting into the National Guard.”

The Kostiuk family is currently planning to make their home in the Twin Cities where Kostiuk has secured a job.

“I’m just ready for some family time,” he said. “Holidays are important to us right now. I missed Anna’s first Christmas and her first birthday, I want to make time for her and for my wife. My plans are spending as much time with them as I can. When we get home, I just want to celebrate being with them and the rest of my family.”