Honorary Grand Marshal speaks to St. Joseph students

When Adam Koster found himself deployed, whether it was in Iraq or Afghanistan, one of the things that brought him comfort was the boxes from home.

“It was like Christmas,” he told the students in Mrs. Tammy Johnson’s 10th grade class at St. Joseph High School in Ironton. “It really meant a lot.”

Koster, a veteran of both the United States Navy and the Army, currently works as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense. He came to speak to Johnson’s class about that role, and to say “thank you” for the care packages they sent for him and the troops on his most recent deployment to Afghanistan, where he worked as a civilian advisor to Afghani forces, including the Afghan Directorate of Police Intelligence, an equivalent office to our FBI.

Koster mostly talked to the kids about the similarities between the cultures and people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the United States, but did answer military-related questions from young people who are interested in pursuing military careers. Otherwise, he limited comments on his work to providing advice on “how to stop bad guys.”

He told the class that, while there are obvious cultural differences, by and large the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are “just like us.”

“Most of the people you work with, they’re just like us,” he said. “They want their families to be safe, and their kids to succeed.”

He also discussed their hospitality, and how good the food was, particularly the lamb and the rice.

“Meals are always great in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

He said that he did have a favorite dish, however, describing a Persian-style rice from Afghanistan, featuring raisins or other dried fruit and a crispy crust on bottom.

“It’s been a privilege to do this my whole life,” he said of his opportunities to interact and make friends with people of different cultures on behalf of his nation.

He said that while he was “always excited about a deployment,” his role as a civilian advisor has been different than purely military deployments. In those cases, he said, he knew his team and he knew what to expect.

“This was a strange opportunity, as an advisor,” he said. “I dropped in and had to gel (with their already-existing team.)”

After a while though, he said, it “truly felt like a friendship.”

He gave an example of one official he worked with who brought him in, not in his advisory role, but simply to have tea and show off his new office, complete with art Koster had gifted him.

He said that after a while, the walls come down, and you can even discuss otherwise taboo topics like religion.

“That’s the moment you know you are a friend,” he said, “when they are comfortable enough to talk about religion.”

Johnson, who is Koster’s first cousin, said that her brother had regularly maintained contact with Koster on his deployments, and that she thought getting her class involved in contributing to care packages would be a “good service project for them.”