Growing up, Larry Metcalf was fascinated by his uncle's service in Operation Desert Storm, and he knew he wanted to be in the Army, too.
The St. Petersburg, Florida native joined in October 1998 as part of the Delayed Entry Program and reported to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, the following summer for basic training. While there, he also completed his Advanced Individual Training and Airborne School before arriving at his first assignment, Fort Liberty, North Carolina, in February 2000.
Throughout his career, Metcalf deployed nine times, totaling nearly six years, to Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and Africa. Although his Army career also sent him to Vicenza, Italy, for two years, Metcalf said his favorite assignment was Alaska.
“I was there from 2002 to 2004 as a [Primary Leadership Development Course] instructor, which is now known as BLC, Basic Leader Course,” he said. “My old platoon sergeant still lives there, and I go back every year to go salmon fishing with him. If I don't get there when the salmon are running, then we'll go halibut fishing.”
Metcalf began his career as an 88M, a transportation operator. About 11 years later, as a senior sergeant first class, he reclassified as an acquisition, logistics and technology contracting noncommissioned officer, a 51C. He graduated from the Sergeants Major Academy in 2015, which brought him to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, to be the Army Contracting Command G-3 sergeant major.
Once it was time to retire, Metcalf thought about his time at Redstone and his professional connections on the installation.
“What really brought us back here was just the area and the environment,” he said. “That, and I knew I could always find a job because there's a lot of acquisition workforce here.”
One of his former coworkers had recently retired and started a job at AMCOM. He told Metcalf about another position opening soon and encouraged him to apply. That was the summer of 2021, and Metcalf is now a senior acquisition analyst for AMCOM.
“Basically, what I do is I validate the AMCOM requirements from an operational and G-3 perspective,” he said.
He and his wife have two daughters, and in his free time, Metcalf enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, playing an occasional round of golf and working in the yard. He said his time in the Army was exactly what he wanted, and he is glad he chose to make it a career.
He recalled talking to some older veterans as a young Soldier. They told him that the one thing they wished they had done was stay in the Army.
“These were old Vietnam vets, World War Two vets, and Korean War vets, and they said they wished they would've stayed in and retired, and that's always stuck with me,” he said. “Here they were in their 70s and 80s, and they're saying that. So, no matter how bad it got, no matter what was to my left and what was to my right, I always had to stick through it because, in the end, I knew it would pay off, and it did.”
Metcalf credits the Army with his opportunities. He said he got to see the world, earn a master’s degree, serve 22 years on active duty and retire as a brigade command sergeant major.
“I learned invaluable skills, met lifelong friends, got a better understanding of the world and retired at 41 years old all because I joined the Army,” he said.