PATRICK'S PEOPLE: Austin and Nick Kosman are brothers in arms

Austin Kosman and Nick Kosman are brothers in arms. Both enlisted in the Kansas National Guard at the age of 17 and are proudly serving their country.

Austin is in the 772 Mobile Augmentation Company, 891st Engineer Battalion, Pittsburg. He is the son of Melinda Collingsworth, Junior Collingsworth and Eric Kosman.

Nick is with the 35th Military Police, 35th Infantry Division, Topeka. His parents are Heather Kosman and Eric Kosman.

“I’ve always been interested in the military as long as I can remember,” Nick said.

“We’d get in trouble for playing soldier,” Austin said.

He said that he was first interested in the U.S. Marines, but ultimately decided that the National Guard suited him better.

“You get to stay here and have the civilian side as well,” Austin said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

It was Austin who told Nick about the Kansas National Guard and SFC D.J. Perry, who is recruiting and retention NCO at the Pittsburg National Guard Armory.

“I first met Nick on a job shadow from Frontenac High School,” Perry said.

Nick also appreciates having access to the civilian side of life.

“I like that the National Guard is involved in the community,” he said. “I get to go to schools and talk, and Sgt. Perry has helped me with a ton of stuff. I can call him or go straight to his house if I need him.”

Austin noted that on Saturday they will be going to the Polar Bear Plunge.

“We always go to the Special Olympics,” Nick added.

The two had wanted to enlist on the same day, but that didn’t work out because Nick completed his enlistment packet first. That enabled Nick to go to basic training between his junior and senior years at Frontenac High School, and he then attended MP training after his graduation.

“I enlisted a week after he did,” Austin said. “I had to wait until I graduated from Southeast High School to do my basic.”

But that enabled him to go through the Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP), and he believes this was an advantage for him because it gave him a big head start on basic training.

“I would say that 90 to 95 percent of the recruits didn’t know what they were doing,” Austin said. “I was put in leadership positions for the first three weeks of basic, then I stepped down but was still a squad leader.”

He had trained on the weapons simulator at the new Pittsburg Armory, and was one of the top people on the M14, being particularly skillful at breaking down and cleaning the rifle.  That brought him a little extra spending money.

“I probably cleaned 12 or 13 of them during the last week of basic,” Austin said. “We had to pass inspection, and people paid me to clean their rifles.”

He chose to get specialized training as a combat engineer.

“You deal with explosives, do route clearing and breaching,” he said. “I like it because it’s more hands-on. It’s like the infantry on steroids.”

Both regret that the National Guard is sometimes misunderstood, and would like to dispel the “weekend warrior” myth.

“People think we just help with national disasters,” Austin said. “Around 80 percent of the people deployed are National Guard.”

Nick said that he is currently trying to get deployed to Afghanistan, and Austin said that he’s going to try for this as well.

Right now they’ve been assisting Perry with his activities.

“Now Nick and I are back to RSP, helping the kids that are just starting out,” Austin said.

“I’ve had them talk to other applicants about their experiences and what they know about the system,” Perry said.

Nick said he recommends starting with the National Guard to anyone interested in a military career.

“I love being in the military, but I know people who don’t like it,” he said. “But they’re Active Duty and they have to live with it every day because they signed the contract. At least with National Guard they would have the civilian side as well.”

Austin said that he believes the National Guard goes above and beyond when it comes to paying for college expenses.

“And nowadays you almost have to have a degree to do anything,” he noted.

Nick said he wanted to thank SSG Jeremy Layman SGT John Kemp and PFC Chris Dee for help with his military experience. Austin said he wanted to thank those three, as well as PFC Nick Renfro and 1st Lt. Andrew Webster.

And both are also grateful to Perry for his training and guidance.

Perry said that he’s very impressed with the brothers in arms.

“They challenge each other and are competitive,” he said. “I expect both of them to go far and do great things.”