RANDALL STUKER

Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Colorado State University

For Randall Stuker, joining the Army was one of three career paths he considered as a teenager. Upon graduating high school, he had to choose between becoming a fire fighter, oncologist or joining the military. Randall would be first generation for any of these choices, but due to the cost of college being something his mother could not afford he decided to join the military due to it being the most easily accessible. Initially, he had not originally planned on being a member of the infantry, but the selflessness of the job appealed to him and he quickly fell in love with his job, aspiring to be the very best. After 2 years in the reserves, he continued to serve an additional 10 years active duty deploying to Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2011, as well as several other countries for bilateral training with foreign countries.

His initial and most significant injury occurred during Special Forces Assessment and Selection when he fell with an 80lb ruck and training apparatus on his back. This injury was further exacerbated from the intensive training while attending Special Forces Qualification Course, resulting in him no longer being able to progress forward in his Army career.

Today, Randall constantly lives with chronic back pain and is no longer able to physically train as he once was able to, struggling with day-to-day activities. The transition to civilian life had a significant impact on his marriage and family life ultimately resulting in divorce. Throughout everything, Randall has overcome every obstacle to care for his daughter to the best of his ability. After being accepted to Sentinels of Freedom he relocated to Denver, Colorado and transferred from Pikes Peak Community College to the University of Denver before ultimately making additional moves to Florida before settling in Arizona. With the support of SOF, Randall has been able to focus on his studies and rebuild his personal life. He is now settled in Arizona and attending Colorado State University online while he works full-time at Willmeng as a Field Engineer. After completing his education he hopes continue to move up within Willmeng and create a new career trajectory within the company.