Sergeant First Class/E-7 Sean Nicke stands with his sons Steven, at left, and Andrew. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Sergeant First Class/E-7 Sean Nicke originally joined the U.S. Army Reserves in September 1988.

He acted “on the advice of a friend who was active duty and stated I wouldn’t like it,” Nicke said. “I ended up joining the U.S. Army active duty in October 1990.”

He completed Infantry Basic/Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. in 1989 as an Army reservist. After enlisting for active duty still as an Infantryman, he served at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash.; Camp Greaves, Republic of Korea; and back to Fort Lewis.

“I changed my MOS to Automated Logistician (92A) and completed AIT at Fort Eustis near Richmond, Va. and was sent to Fort Drum, Watertown, N.Y. A second tour in the Republic of Korea at Camp Howze led to a return assignment at Fort Campbell near Clarksville, Tenn.,” Nicke said.

For a final time, he changed his MOS to Air Traffic Controller (93C) and graduated from AIT at Fort Rucker. Nicke finished his career with assignments to Fort Campbell; Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, Phoenix, Ariz.; Fort Polk, Leesville, La.; Fort Irwin, National Training Center, Barstow, Calif.; and Fort Rucker.

In August 2010, Nicke moved to Madison “to work on a program and system at Redstone Arsenal that had never existed before and will help Unmanned Aircraft gain access to the National Airspace System.”

Nicke grew up in Moline, Ill., part of the Quad Cities. While on active duty, he earned a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide Campus in the U.S. Army college program. He works as a logistical support analyst for MCR LLC.

Nicke and his wife Effie have been married 10 years. She teaches biology at Calhoun Community College’s Huntsville campus.

“My oldest son, Steven, is 21 years old and in U.S. Army training to become a Microwave Communications Specialist,” Sean Nicke said. “My youngest son, Andrew, is a senior at Bob Jones High School and has already joined the U.S. Army to train as a Military Police Specialist.”

Nicke’s hobbies include billiards, hunting, golf and working on his house.