Veteran Service Award honoree continues to work for those who served

By MIKE BOLLINGER

Robert Boyette may have retired from the military, but he hasn’t retired from helping veterans.

After retiring from the U.S. Army and Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel with 30 years of service, Boyette is now the veteran service officer for Johnston County. “I do whatever I can do to help veterans every single day,” he said. Boyette served from 1985-2015. He served in Iraq, Fort Benning, Fort Stuart and Fort Gordon in Georgia, Fort Irwin in California, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and in Washington, D.C. “I started as an E-1 private when I was 17 years old. My first job was to do whatever I was told, no questions asked,” he said.

After becoming a commissioned officer, he was a platoon leader, company commander and a brigade operations officer for air operations. From 2003-05, he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He started there as a training officer for the Iraqi military and ended up as a brigade operations officer. “I coordinated air space to meet the needs of our soldiers. I would call in close air support. Anything that had to do with anything flying in the air, I coordinated it,” Boyette said.

Every day in Iraq was different. “I would fly in a helicopter, and some days it would be fine and some days it wasn’t. Some days weren’t eventful, and the next day you would wonder if you were going to come home,” he said. “It was just not a conventional war. There were no front lines. I was never in imminent danger for any extended period of time. I wasn’t out on the ground kneeling in doors. I was providing air support for those who were.”

“We were shot at a few times,” Boyette continued. “Most of the time, you didn’t know where it was coming from. It was not engagement, they shot and ran. They didn’t stand and fight. The worst thing was the IEDs. I was blessed never to hit one while I was there. We did lose some troops from that.”

The best thing about the military, he said, is being part of a team and learning how important teamwork is. Boyette said about 1% of Americans join the military. “The other 99 percent is missing a great blessing. I think society would be different if 99 percent of people were veterans. When you served with someone, it didn’t matter what color a person was or what their gender or religion was. There comes a time when those things are not important,” he said. “I wish there were more veterans involved in politics.”

When the time came to retire, Boyette said he hated to leave. “At some point in time, you have to let someone else come in,” he said.

Becoming the county’s veteran service officer was a natural next step. “I wanted to find something to be involved with that 1%,” he said. “I get to have conversations with them every day. I was blessed to spend all that time in service, and I am blessed to still be able speak the jargon with those who served. It’s a language all its own. Some people come in the office I haven’t seen in 20 years. And even if you don’t know them, you know them.”

When he was a junior in high school, he realized his parents wouldn’t be financially able to send him to college. “I knew it would take money we didn’t have. I realized my father and grandfather had served in the Army. It didn’t hurt them, so I tried it,” Boyette said.

In the Army, he said he received the guidance he needed. “I had to grow up,” Boyette said.

He attended college while in the military. “The military kept pushing me in the right direction. I got my associate’s degree, then they told me I needed to do more to make sure I would get promoted, so I got a bachelor’s, then I went on and got a master’s,” he said.

After about two years, Boyette said, he decided to make the military a career. “After training, you have to do your little piece to make the puzzle work. I didn’t want to get away from that,” he said. “The only regret I have is I wish I had stayed longer. I enjoyed all of it, from the beginning to the very end. I made a lot of good friends there.”

His last job in the military was to inform families about casualties. “It was a job I never wanted. I’m glad it was the last job I had because I might not have stayed if it had been the first one,” Boyette said.

While in Iraq, he served in the First Infantry Division. His father served in Vietnam and his grandfather in World War II. “My father was also in the First Infantry Division. We had the same patch,” he said.

He and his wife, Sandy, have been married for 14 years. He has a stepdaughter, Emma, who will attend N.C. State in the fall, and a daughter, Taylor. He and his family spend time on veteran-related activities such as putting flags on veterans’ graves for Memorial Day.

Boyette is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5886 in Smithfield and American Legion Post 109 in Benson.

He said he was “a bit surprised” to learn he would receive the Veteran Service Award. “There are 14,000 veterans in Johnston County. Why would anyone choose me? There are many that are much more deserving than me. I’m humbled, honored and surprised. I’m fortunate someone thought enough of me to make this recommendation. This is not an award for me, it’s an award for the 14,000 veterans in Johnston County,” Boyette said.

For more information about the Johnston County Veterans Service Office, visit johnstonnc.com under “departments,” email Veterans@johnstonnc.com, call 919-989-5067 or visit the office in the Johnston County Land Use Center at 309 E. Market St. in Smithfield.