For many a young person making the transition from high school into their adult lives as working professionals, a college education has been a goal that often seems to be out of reach when considering the costs.
Brandon Kaufman, after graduating from Peoria Heights High School in Illinois in 2000, realized that were he to achieve his dream of a college degree, he would first need the financial assistance offered through military service.
“I actually went to the recruiting office to see the Marine Corps recruiter, but he was out of the office,” Kaufman said. “The Navy recruiter was a friend of the family, so I stopped by to visit with him, and after he showed me all of the options available because of my testing scores, I decided to enlist in the Navy.”
Kaufman then traveled to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in June 2000, where he remained for the next two months completing his initial training. From there, he was unexpectedly transferred to the Ceremonial Guard in Washington, D.C.
“When I enlisted, I signed up to be a cryptologist, so it was kind of a surprise to be sent to the East Coast,” he said. “I spent about eight weeks in training with the Ceremonial Guard but didn’t achieve the necessary scores, so I was given the option to go through the training cycle again or transfer to Florida for the cryptology training that I initially signed up for.”
Kaufman chose the latter of the two options.
Following his arrival at Corry Station in Pensacola, Florida, he spent the next several weeks learning to disseminate top secret message traffic in addition to communicating with other Navy ships and transferring sensitive information to the Pentagon.
Graduating second in his class, he received assignment to the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), an amphibious command ship. As Kaufman recalled, the ship was at the time stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.
“I was with the ship for about three or four months and then given temporary duty as a cryptologist aboard the USS Ramage (DDG-61), which was a guided missile destroyer,” he said. “They were getting ready to get under way for a deployment, and I was with them for about six months.”
He continued, “We escorted the USS Teddy Roosevelt to the Red Sea and then escorted the USS Abraham Lincoln back from the Persian Gulf. I worked in a section of about six to seven sailors, and we split 12-hour shifts conducting cryptology messaging and maintaining the equipment.”
Returning to the USS Mount Whitney in April 2001, the ship was at the time located in Portsmouth, Virginia, undergoing repairs and upgrades. On Sept. 10, 2001, Kaufman and many of the ship’s complement had the day off but the following day, after the terrorist attacks unfolded on U.S. soil, they began ramping up for deployment.
“We were under way by November (2001) and stationed off the coast of Africa,” he said. “There was a military base being built at Djibouti, and we had representatives from every branch of our military on the ship.” He added, “It was very interesting to see the base come together and develop.”
After spending seven months on deployment, monitoring and relaying top secret message traffic, Kaufman and the USS Mount Whitney returned to the United States in the summer of 2002. He remained assigned to the vessel and conducted “routine duties” until receiving his discharge from the Navy in May 2004 at the rate (rank) of cryptologic technician third class.
Now possessing educational benefits that would afford him the means to acquire a college education, he enrolled at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in August 2004. Four years later, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history.
“I had intended to become a music major, but I needed to find a program that would keep me interested so that I wanted to get up and go to class every day,” he said. “I love history, and that’s why I chose to pursue that program.”
He remained living in Carbondale and was employed as the assistant property manager for an apartment complex. While there, he earned his barber’s license through a training program in Cape Girardeau.
“That’s what brought me to Jefferson City — the desire to be a barber,” Kaufman said. “I moved here in June 2011, but saw an advertisement in the newspaper for the car sales business that showed the amount of money a person could earn.”
He added, “I’ve been in car sales since then and now am employed as a sales associate at Rusty Drewing Toyota in Jefferson City.”
The father of a son and daughter, Kaufman said his experiences in the Navy have not only provided the resources to achieve a college education but have exposed him to the value of working with those from different backgrounds.
“I believe that everyone should consider serving in some capacity because you learn how to accept people for who they are,” Kaufman said. “When you are out to sea, the only way to go is down if something happens, and we all learned to support one another to accomplish the mission so that everyone could come home safely.”
He concluded, “I take pride in knowing that I volunteered to be part of the Navy and got to travel overseas, seeing several interesting places I would never have seen otherwise. I am also proud that the responsibilities I was given contributed in some small part to everyone being successful in their own duties.”
Jeremy P. Ämick is the author of “Show-Me Veterans.”
After graduating from high school in 2000, Brandon Kaufman enlisted in the Navy and went on to train as a cryptologist. He participated in two deployments during his enlistment and then used his educational benefits to earn a college degree. (Courtesy/Jeremy P. Amick)