As a student at Italy High School, Quincy Babers never considered a career in the military; but when he got home one afternoon, an Army recruiter was sitting in his living room.

“Actually, Mom had called a recruiter,” SSG Babers said. “I came home and he was just sitting on the couch.” As the recruiter talked, however, SSG Babers realized this might be an option he should consider.

“I wanted to do something different. I wanted to get away and see the world.” And SSG Babers has seen the world.

SSG Babers, a 1996 graduate of Italy High School, was your typical high school student. He said his classmates were all close and they enjoyed spending time together while growing up. He went to Navarro College after high school but couldn’t decide which career field to pursue.

So, in May of 1997, SSG Babers entered the U.S. Army. He did his basic training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and his advanced training at Fort Lee in Virginia.

As he envisioned, SSG Babers has seen the world. He has been stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas, Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Polk in Louisiana and Korea. He spent 2003-2004 deployed in Iraq. Currently, he is stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but deployed to Camp Buehring in Kuwait earlier this year.

SSG Babers is a staff sergeant/E6 and is in Unit Logistics. He is in charge of ordering and receiving supplies as well as signing out and distributing supplies. He said, “My job is very critical to the unit’s overall mission.” As platoon sergeant, SSG Babers has 22 recruits that he must properly train.

The Italy native met his wife, Ashley, while at Fort Polk. She was in the Army at the time they met.

SSG Babers said his wife is now out of the Army and is raising their two young daughters – Kenadee, 2, and Dakota, 7 months — while he is in Kuwait.

Ashley, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, said it’s not easy raising the two girls while he is deployed. She said there are good days and bad days. She said it is much harder when the girls are upset because their Dad is gone.

SSG Babers will celebrate his 16th year in the Army this month and will be eligible to retire in four years. Ashley said they plan to move back to Texas to be around their families after he retires. His aunt and uncle still live in Italy.

In his spare time, SSG Babers said he loves to write rap songs. He would like to pursue the music field after he retires. Raising their daughters will be their top priority.

Although half-a-world away, SSG Babers said he keeps up with Italy athletics. He, too, was an athlete while in high school. He is impressed the Gladiators are keeping the “winning tradition” alive. He volunteers as a youth sports coach wherever he is stationed. He said,“I enjoy working with young kids.”

SSG Babers urges Italy’s youth to have dreams and goals and to follow those goals. “People I went to high school with never thought I would have been in the Army 16 years and on the verge of retiring. But anything is possible and education is the key.”

His tour of duty in Kuwait should end in October. He will have been deployed about nine-and-a-half months. SSG Babers said he cannot wait to get back to Colorado and to Italy to visit with family and friends.