FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — For some people, serving in the Army means putting on more than one uniform.
Christian King is the 1st Lieutenant and Alpha Company Executive Officer for the 615th Aviation Support Battalion with the 1st Cavalry Division.
King is a proud soldier that spent his childhood on the beaches of Barbados.
”[It's] somewhere where a lot of people go vacation at,” King said.
“You can only imagine, constantly exposed to beautiful weather, lovely island breeze, the beaches, the crystal blue water, and just grew up playing a lot of soccer anywhere I could.”
When he was 17, he moved to Detroit with his mom and earned a scholarship to play soccer for the University of Detroit Mercy.
With the support of his mother and to be a role model for his son, Lieutenant King joined the Army and brought his love of soccer with him.
”I joined the Fort Bragg post installation team and from there, just kept trying out and applying to the echelons above that,” King said.
“All Army team, All Armed Forces team, and I've been fortunate enough to play at all those levels.”
King helped some of those teams to bring home gold medals in recent years.
”The team won our first tournament in 2019 and then, just recently, won the tournament again in 2023,” King said.
“Participating down and Camp Pendelton on Oceanside California.”
These are experiences his current commander says helped shape the leader he is proud to have on his team.
”Every time you put him in charge of other people to accomplish a specific mission, he feeds off things like that and he does it with all his heart, and he gets it done,” said Cpt Emmanuel Shima, Alpha Company Commander, 615th Aviation Support Battalion.
He does all of this knowing that his service keeps him far from his son, and he has a message for the young man that keeps him going.
”Every day you inspire me to be the best version of myself, so it gives you something to look up to and yourself, to be inspired by,” King said.
“I'm super proud of you, love you, look forward to seeing you real soon.”
1st Lieutenant Christian King proudly serves his county in uniforms on and off the soccer field proving there is more than one way to serve.
