Rick Simpson spent over half of his adult life serving with America's military forces.
Simpson said of his 23 years in the military, "I'm very proud of it. It was an honor to have served my country."
Born and raised in Abilene, Simpson graduated high school in 1979. He immediately enlisted in the Army. "It was something I knew I was going to do for a long time," he said.
Simpson went through basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. He was then assigned to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as an Ammunition Technician/Specialist.
After eight months at the Redstone Arsenal, Simpson was sent to Vilseck, Germany, for one year, and then returned to Redstone Arsenal and was made an Explosives Ordinance Disposal Technician. "We handled munitions," he said, and then added with a smile, "We learned how to blow stuff up."
The U.S. Army now defines an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician as "an elite military bomb specialist who locates, identifies, renders safe, and disposes of conventional, nuclear, biological, chemical, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)."
EODs operate in hostile environments, getting rid of ordnance - bombs, rockets, ammunition - that was either captured or left behind by the enemy.
"You always wanted to blow up unwanted ordnance; it's a lot safer that way," Simpson said. "We would only disable ordnance if it was a critical situation, like an IED on a crowded roadway."
Simpson returned to Vilseck, Germany, and remained stationed there for five years. He was then sent to Panama for a year, before being accepted into Ranger Training School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Simpson graduated as an Army Ranger and was then sent to Iraq and Kuwait for multiple deployments that lasted over five years. "I was back and forth between both places, depending on where my unit was needed," he said. "We blew up a lot of ordnance that our guys found so the enemy couldn't use it."
In 2010, Simpson returned to the United States and was discharged from injuries he had received while serving in the Middle East. "My dad, Marvin Hoffman, and Joe Jindra used to run the radio station (KNCK) in Concordia, so I had been here quite a bit. I really liked the town, so after my discharge I moved here."
Simpson worked at Wilbur-Ellis for a number of years, and then retired for good. "It was just time. No more getting up at 5 a.m.," he said with a grin.
Simpson now devotes a lot of his time to events associated with the American Legion. "I'm affiliated with the Sons of the American Legion and the American Legion Riders, and I bartend there part-time."
In the November 3 election, Simpson was also voted in as a city commissioner, and will begin serving his four-year term in January 2027. "I appreciate everybody who voted, not just for me, but for all the candidates and their policies. As a city commissioner, I promise to do my best and work with the other commissioners to do what's right for the community."
When Simpson looks back on his 23 years of service in America's military, he does so without regret. "I hope that everybody appreciates what our military does. There's nothing free about freedom, and it sometimes comes at a high cost. We have a lot of enemies around the world, and we have enemies because of our freedoms, because we're free to use our voices to disagree. We kind of take that for granted, and we shouldn't. There are a lot of places where our enemies would like nothing better than to oppress our freedom. It's a big job protecting us, so I hope everyone appreciates how good a job our military does at that. I want to thank all my veteran brothers and sisters who served, and those who still serve."
Thank you for your service, Rick Simpson.
