Carl W. Notter

60, Elkins Park
Master Sergeant (Retired) Army National Guard
Deployed to Afghanistan Winter 2003 and Winter 2007

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Published: Jul 1, 2009

Carl W. Notter
60, Elkins Park 
Master Sergeant (Retired) Army National Guard 
Deployed to Afghanistan Winter 2003 and Winter 2007

Carl Notter capped his 42-year (11 years active, 31 Reserve and National Guard) military career with a final deployment last year to Nijil, Afghanistan, where he gathered military intelligence. He didn't leave many amenities behind — just a small apartment located between Arcadia University, where he was a student, and the Navy Depot gym, where he works out every day. Leaving civilian life was easy. "I gave my car away, sub-leased my place and off I went."

In Afghanistan, Notter avoided the standard chow and maintained a raw food diet by importing olive oil and making deals with the kitchen staff. Diet, he believes, is just one of the ways the military mismanages its soldiers. He's most concerned about the way many people serving abroad stay tethered to civilian life. "Some people try to mimic the life that they have back at home," he says. "Phone, satellite TV, Internet." To Notter, this is completely wrong. "The key is to totally disengage from what's happening stateside and get your head in the game in theater — exercise, study, disassemble/assemble your weapon — constantly train so that you are gainfully employed, so that your mind is not idle."

Notter is concentrating on opening a rental property for military families in Aruba. "It is my way of providing an inexpensive place for Army buddies to go when they come off deployment and want to re-engage with their families," he says.

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