Mitch Mullins did not choose to go into the Army Reserve, but, according to him, it was one of the best decisions he ever made. Mullins joined the Reserve in ‘71, having just gotten his associate’s degree from Purdue University. He received notice that he was going to get drafted into the Army, so he applied the next day. The following Saturday, he got married to the woman that he is still with today. Mullins went through a huge change, going from a tiny school in Hebron to learning about himself in ways that he never would have imagined.
“When I went into the Army Reserve, I had just gotten done at Purdue getting my associate’s degree. I got my associate’s on a Sunday. Then, on Monday, I received a warning that I was going to get a draft notice. On Tuesday, I went and applied to be in the Reserve. The following Saturday, I got married. That was a big change, and I’m proud to say that we’re still together after 52 years,” Mullins said.
“I went from a kid from a small school in Hebron to somebody who learned confidence and had the ability to see parts of the world that I never would have seen. More importantly, I had the opportunity to become educated beyond my college education. I was what they called one of their better sergeant majors; I learned a lot about politics, and how politics plays an important part as you progress through the ranks in the service,” Mullins said.
In the Reserve, Mullins worked very closely with the United Nations (UN) doing assignments as one of the two representatives from the United States Army. There was somebody ranked above him, but he dealt with the political spectrum. As he progressed, he was given more and more responsibility. In Bosnia, he managed 4800 people with a staff of only 25 or 30 people.
“For a while, I had an assignment as one of the two representatives from the United States Army, dealing with the UN. I had a Lieutenant Colonel above me, and he and I worked together as a team. We would go and deal with requests from the UN, and we did a lot of traveling around Saudi Arabia and Kuwait dealing on the level of the political spectrum. I can remember sitting with the assistant secretary general of the UN, briefing him, which was definitely an interesting experience. As I progressed up, I got more and more responsibility put on me,” Mullins said.
Mullins was a financial specialist in the Army Reserve. He started in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He went through an administrative course learning how to be a clerk and the way the Army wanted the records kept. He then went to Fort Bend Harrison, Indianapolis, where he had to go through several months in school for finance. When he finished school, he was transferred to Kingsbury where he was assigned to an artillery unit.
After Mullins' journey through being in the Army Reserve, Mullins still believes that anybody who is thinking about it should join the Army.
“I would recommend anybody that needs a kick to join the military to talk to a recruiter, take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, and decide if that’s really what you want to do for two, three, or four years. If you do, go for it,” Mullins said.