Last draftee retiring after 42 years on active duty

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20141104/NEWS/311040052/Last-draftee-retiri
ng-after-42-years-active-duty

The last continuously serving Vietnam War draftee on active-duty is retiring
from the Army.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ralph Rigby has served for 42 years, according to
information from the 2nd Infantry Division. He was just 19 when he was
drafted into the Army.

In a news story by the 2nd Infantry Division, Rigby recounted his reaction
when he was drafted.

His first response was to consider moving to Canada, but his mother,
Dorothy, wouldn't hear it.

"We do not quit in this family," she told him, according to the 2nd Infantry
Division's story.

"I took my mother's words and kept on going," Rigby said in the story.
"After all, being drafted was the closest I have come to winning the
lottery."

After training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Rigby was sent to the Army's
engineer school at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He did not deploy to Vietnam.
Instead, his first assignment was to South Korea.

Rigby enjoyed his time in Korea so much that he extended his tour.

Ten years later, as a sergeant first class, Rigby became a warrant officer.

He has served at various levels, from power generator equipment repairman to
platoon sergeant to ground support maintenance technician.

He is now the senior ordnance logistics officer for the 2nd Infantry at Camp
Red Cloud, South Korea.

"I love what I do," Rigby said in the division news story. "Knowing that I
am able to work with all the brigades while still getting the opportunity to
mentor officers and junior enlisted soldiers."

During a ceremony Monday, which also was Rigby's 62nd birthday, Maj. Gen.
Thomas Vandal, the 2nd Infantry's commanding general, thanked Rigby for his
service.

"Chief, you have truly been a bargain for the American people and our Army,
a giver who has sacrificed much for the sake of our nation," Vandal said
during the retirement event.

Rigby, who plans to settle in Fayetteville, North Carolina, said he's
thankful for his time in the Army, according to the 2nd Infantry news story.

"It's mandatory to get old, but only optional to grow up," he said. "The
Army has allowed me to travel and see things that I would have never seen
otherwise."