LEADING WITH PURPOSE

Kastle passionate about teaching all students, including veterans

by DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN photography by KELSEY STREMEL

A young Seth Kastle ready to graduate from Kensington High School back in the late 1990s had no desire to go to college. So he signed up to join the U.S. Army Reserve halfway through his senior year.

Little did he know that 20 years later, he would be married with two daughters and be telling his story as Dr. Seth Kastle. It’s a story he is glad to tell, especially if it can help others. Kastle had several titles attached to his name before becoming a well respected and accomplished assistant professor of leadership studies at his alma mater.

Before becoming a retired first sergeant, a veteran of two wars, an author of two children’s books, and a developer of an innovative degree program at Fort Hays State, Kastle finally heeded his mother’s request to at least give college a try. After one failed attempt, he returned to FHSU and graduated in 2005 with a B.S. in leadership studies.

The journey to that Fort Hays State office took him through two years of deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq and a heart attack before retiring from the reserves after 16 years.

As the first sergeant of a logistics company, Kastle was only one rank away from becoming a command sergeant major, the top of the NCO corps and a long-time goal of his.

He was on track to make it in a year or so if only he could stay in.

But he was tired of being away from his family for about four months out of the year so he decided to retire.

His return home for good didn’t come without its challenges, however. Kastle and his wife, Julia, another veteran of almost two years in combat

zones, had another companion during their journey together: post-traumatic stress disorder.

They met while in the army and were in Iraq together. After they were demobilized in 2004, the Kastles moved to the Hays area for work and school. Julia also graduated from Fort Hays State, with a B.S. in medical diagnostic imaging.

After her graduation, they moved to Wichita, where Julia took a position at Wesley Medical Center. Kastle found a job as an academic advisor at Southwestern College’s adult education branch in Wichita. He completed his master’s degree in leadership studies at Southwestern and started teaching online.

Even while settling into a post-war, civilian routine, Kastle still struggled with PTSD – in what he describes as a fire in his chest when he feels anger.

The downward spiral continued when one of his best friends, Bryan Nichols, died while piloting a helicopter in Afghanistan.

Kastle found himself making more and more bad choices, and he was afraid he was going to lose his wife and children.

He finally decided to seek help and says that “every piece of my life today is better because I took that first step and continue to take steps. This is a continual process, and I am going to have to be really purposeful in managing it.”

“It’s all about self-awareness,” he said, “understanding yourself and what your triggers are. If I don’t get in front of it, it grows to a point that it controls me, and I can’t reason.”

Veterans Day Celebration 2019

Then one day in 2014, Kastle sat down at his kitchen table and began writing, trying to explain to his young daughter why he was acting the way he was.

“The post-war version of me is the only version of me my kids know,” Kastle said. “I wanted a way to explain to them, educate them that this isn’t their fault.”

A friend encouraged him to publish his writing. “Why is Dad So Mad?” is a story that explains that even though Dad gets angry, he still loves his family more than anything. The book became a Kickstarter hit, and he was featured on NBC with Lester Holt. He formed Kastle Books and wrote another book with the help of his wife – “Why Is Mom So Mad?”

The books get in the hands of a lot of military families who need them. And Kastle’s teaching career, after earning an Education Doctorate from Baker University in 2017, has now blossomed into a tenure-track professorship at Fort Hays State.

“I think it’s figuring out what your passion is – for me, that’s teaching,” he said.

That passion for Kastle now is teaching, something he pursued during his first try at college when he was thinking about going into elementary education.

Before his stint at Southwestern College and now at Fort Hays State, Kastle was in a teaching role as a drill sergeant in the army.

So it’s no surprise that he particularly enjoys helping veterans who attend Fort Hays State.

He spent a large part of the last two years designing and campaigning for a new Associate of Applied Science program for active duty current service members and veterans.

The program is unique in that it assigns college credit for basic NCO leadership courses that are transferable nowhere else. It took more than 18 months – much of that time tracking down exactly who he needed to talk to in the Army educational command – but he eventually obtained the official blessings of the U.S. Army, FHSU and the Kansas Board of Regents.

In this degree program, a soldier/ veteran student with all the possible credits transferring would have eight classes, only two semesters, at a cost of a little over $5,000, to get an associate’s degree in technology and leadership. That program began this fall.

Kastle definitely is glad he listened to his mother’s pleading to give college a try.

“The future is not going to build itself,” he said. “So having the opportunity to engage with young people and have somewhat of a hand in that is truly an awesome feeling. Moving here to teach is the most purposeful thing I’ve ever done, in my civilian career, anyway.”

MILITARY FRIENDLY SCHOOL

FHSU has been named in the Top Military Friendly Colleges and Universities for the last nine years running. We are committed to empowering both active duty and veteran military personnel and their spouses. Through the Virtual College, students can take a class or earn a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree–all on their own schedule, from anywhere in the world. Get to know an FHSU Tiger veteran, military spouse, and active duty service member.

MICHAEL McMAKIN JR. Staff Sergeant in the United States Army

Serving for almost five years as an M1A2 crewman, I’ve gotten to experience the lands of many countries and states. As I’m currently in South Korea, I’ve been blessed to attend the FHSU Virtual College because I can achieve my goal from any location. My dream has always been to own a dairy farm; that’s why I am trying to receive my bachelor’s degree in agricultural business. With hard work, I can achieve those goals, whether I’m home in the United States or on another deployment.

VICTORIA HERTZ Military Spouse

My husband is in the United States Air Force, and he got orders to Ramstein Air Base, Germany about a year ago. Moving around with two young children has made getting my degree a lengthy process. Finding FHSU was such a relief because it meant no more transferring, no more lost credits, and no more losing money. Now that I can focus more on my classes and less on what I will do once I move again, my GPA has improved significantly. FHSU has made it possible for, not just me, but every other person in similar situations to have the opportunity to get their degree. Thank you, FHSU, for being what we need in a college!

WILLIAM “BILL” HERONEMA Veteran

I’ve had careers in the military, as a helicopter mechanic, and as a contractor at Fort Riley, and I’ve worked other jobs. I came back to FHSU and decided to move into cyber security. It’s a growing field with a projected need of 1.5 million more employees in the next year alone and a projected growth of another 3 trillion in business by year 2030. I’d like just a piece of that. FHSU has great resources to connect me with learning opportunities and help me get to that next step. There are programs like the Student Veterans Association, leadership studies programs, and faculty and instructors are always willing to help.