Finding His Team Again: A Veterans Day Story

Army veteran Noah Bostick '27 in Syria.

When Noah Bosket '27 thinks about the path that led him to Ithaca College, he begins not with boot camp or the battlefield, but with the practice field: football reps, sprints, and the sense of belonging that comes from everyone chasing the same goal.

After graduating from Horseheads High School-where he was a star athlete-in 2017, he started taking classes at a community college, unsure of what direction to take. He missed the team dynamic that had defined his life in sports. Community college felt scattered to him, with students moving in different directions. He knew he needed something that felt purposeful and connected.

"I come from a military family," Bosket says. Two of his uncles served in the Marines and both of his grandfathers were Navy veterans. He would be the first in his family to join the Army. He says, "I wanted to do something on my own and make my own path," and he also recognized the long-term educational opportunities military service could support. He chose to train as a heavy-diesel mechanic because his relatives encouraged him to pursue a trade rather than a specialty like infantry.

He began boot camp in January 2020 at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. The intense physical and mental discipline came naturally to him, not because it was easy, but because it felt purposeful. He thrived under structure and teamwork. Before long, he was named Platoon Guide, a role of peer leadership and accountability that, as he described it, meant "you are like one step down from the drill sergeant." COVID restrictions prevented a graduation ceremony, but the experience solidified something in him.

Bosket '27 on deployment.

After Fort Jackson, Bosket went to Virginia for advanced individual training. He became a heavy-machinery diesel mechanic and heavy-equipment operator. He later served as a driver for the battalion's lieutenant colonel, a position that required reliability, steadiness, and trust.

Before deployment, he had the chance to attempt Air Assault School-one of the Army's most physically demanding and technically meticulous specialty programs, involving helicopter operations, cargo rigging, and rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters. Soldiers are expected to master both the physical challenges and complex procedural knowledge quickly.

He described Air Assault as "the ten hardest days of my life." He didn't pass the first time. He says the setback shook him: "I never really failed in sports … it was really unsettling for me." Bosket decided he would try again. When he returned to Air Assault School two months later, he says, "I made up my mind that I was not going to fail … and I absolutely thrived."

Not long after, he received deployment orders to Syria. He and 1-32 Battalion of the First Brigade were stationed at a natural gas field known as "Conoco, Syria" where U.S. forces remained to prevent control of the site from shifting amid pressure from ISIS, Russia, and Iran. He served as both a heavy machine operator and recovery vehicle specialist, and his responsibilities included retrieving damaged vehicles.

The situation on the ground was tense and sometimes frightening. Bosket says the atmosphere was "Russians, Russians, and ISIS just circling the plant." On missions over the wire, or outside the relative safety of the base's perimeter, the vulnerability was acute … especially when he had to drive a slow-moving forklift with shot-out windows. Even inside the wire, one night a sergeant woke the unit to report dozens of drones overhead. In August 2022, a mortar launched by Iranian-backed forces exploded about 50 feet from Bosket's position, injuring another soldier with shrapnel.

Literally hours before his deployment, one of his uncles-a veteran who had been part of the military tradition that shaped Bosket's early understanding of service-took his own life. That loss, combined with what he would experience overseas, led him to reconsider his future. He knew he wanted to build something different, something grounded in care, community, and growth. Bosket returned stateside in late 2022 and received an honorable discharge the following summer.

On November 6 at noon, the Ithaca College community gathered in Ford Hall for the annual Veterans Day Celebration, an event that blends remembrance and reflection. Performances included the IC Treble Chorale's National Anthem and, later, a haunting "Amazing Grace," as well as the Trombone Troupe's medley honoring each branch of the armed forces.

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Melanie Stein spoke to the broad circle of service that extends beyond those in uniform. "Too often, the sacrifices that families have to make while loved ones are serving go unnoticed," she said. "And at IC we believe that we are a family and if a member of your family is serving or in harm's way, we want you to know that we support you."

Professor Emeritus of Music Performance-and Army veteran-Kim Dunnick traced the role of military bands throughout U.S. history and noted Ithaca College's longstanding connection to them, from alumni who have served in the premier Washington, D.C., ensembles to those who have supported military communities across the world. He emphasized that military musicians have long provided not just ceremony and morale, but also a sense of continuity and care in times of uncertainty.

This year's student speaker, Brendan Holmes '26 (MBA in Entertainment and Media Management), shared his journey as a U.S. Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Wisconsin during Operation Desert Storm in 1990. After returning home, he faced significant health challenges linked to service-connected exposure and spent decades navigating complex veterans' benefit systems. In 2022, he began volunteer advocacy work to help other disabled veterans secure the support they're owed, work he's now channeling into his graduate studies at Ithaca College.

The final note was "Taps," a lights-out bugle call repurposed by General Daniel Butterfield for funerals in the Civil War, an unadorned finish that let the history speak.

IC lights its fountains to participate in Operation Green Light, a campaign that raises awareness of and supports veterans. (Photo by "Giovanni Santacroce)

Bosket then enrolled at Finger Lakes Community College to study kinesiology and human performance. Back home at Horseheads High School, he planned to coach on a volunteer basis with the football team-his younger brother was a senior on the roster-but an extra position opened, and he stepped in as a coach. That led to track, where Bosket (a former record-holding sprinter) focused on fundamentals and mechanics; under his coaching, athletes broke 14 school records. The following season, the football team went on to win its first sectional title in 26 years.

Still, something felt unmoored. While visiting Ithaca College as a prospective transfer student, he saw what he was missing: students in IC gear, small groups working shoulder to shoulder, faculty doors propped open. In the Exercise Science program, he saw teams everywhere: project partners, study groups, and professors who expected you to show up for one another.

Now an Exercise Science major himself, with a concentration in Strength and Conditioning, Bosket appreciates the collaborative environment, both in coursework and culture. He values the accessibility of faculty. As he puts it, "Sometimes I feel like I'm asking them too many questions, and they're like, 'no, come in.'"

Bosket continues to coach at Horseheads High School. He continues to build. He is already thinking about how he might one day create a training and rehabilitation business of his own, one that treats performance as both physical and relational, an expression of trust, belief, and shared work.

For Bosket, Veterans Day is not only a day of hero narratives. It's a day of connection and a reminder of the people who stood next to him, the ones who made him stronger, and the people he now helps mentor and uplift. It is about shared purpose.

In other words, it's about finding your team.

Whether you're an athlete, a veteran, a musician, a researcher, or still figuring it out-you'll find people here who show up for each other.

Join a community built on support, collaboration, and shared purpose.