In the aftermath of 9/11, Downers Grove’s Jason Wales decided to join the U.S. Army to serve his country, but also for “better work prospects.”

Decades later, Wales retired as a Sergeant First Class with numerous military awards from both the Army and the Illinois National Guard.

Upon entering the Army, Wales credits his score on a military assessment test with guiding him to a career as an air traffic controller, a choice that would lead him to be deployed to Iraq twice, spending a total of two years and nine months there.

“I knew it was going to be challenging,” Wales said. “But I also have never committed to anything and failed at it.”

Wales graduated from air traffic controller training in January 2004 and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, under the Air Traffic Control Services Command (ATSCOM).

Serving as an air traffic controller in Iraq, Wales remembers communicating with 26 aircraft at a time.

He also recalls being forced to close a sector of an airfield because of “firing mortars.”

On other occasions, Wales remembers sitting in an air traffic control tower and “seeing a rocket go across the air.”

Even before the rocket landed, Wales would contact the military fire department to report it without knowing its landing location.

His role was so critical that during his time in Iraq, Wales was forbidden to ride in a car due to roadside bombings.

Instead, he and other air traffic controllers moved between locations in helicopters. Still, Wales said the helicopters he rode in had shots fired at them.

He remembers talking with his mom over the telephone while stationed in Iraq and her hearing explosions from rockets landing nearby.

The loud explosions caused him to end the call and call back his tearful mom when the mortar fire ended.

As a father of seven children, Wales said there were times that his assignments or deployments prevented him from seeing his children for months at a time.

Ultimately, his role as a father played a key part in his decision to retire from the military in 2011.

Returning to Downers Grove as a civilian, Wales was a bit unsettled.

First, he and his wife, Jennifer, both enrolled at the College of DuPage and attended classes while sharing child care responsibilities.

Wales then decided to reenter the military, this time with the Illinois Army National Guard.

Transitioning to a full-time, active-duty job with the National Guard, Wales initially was assigned to the Counterdrug Task Force, a program designed to assist law enforcement in reducing the supply of drugs throughout the U.S.

He was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration at the Chicago Field Division Office as a communications specialist, where he now works in a civilian capacity.

During his tenure at the CDTF, Wales assisted in the seizure of thousands of pounds of narcotics.

In January 2020, Wales transferred to a medical battalion as an optical laboratory specialist — right before the pandemic hit.

He was activated with the Military Vaccination Team 108-43-C to assist in the vaccination effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He oversaw 11 soldiers and six nurses conducting check-ins and vaccinations at the Blue Island Clinic.

When that clinic closed, the team moved to join two other teams at the South Suburban College Mass Vaccination site in South Holland.

Over three months, Wales and his team were responsible for more than 30,000 vaccinations.

Wales transitioned to the weekend National Guard program participating in aviation-related duties before retiring in 2023.

For many years, Wales also has been an active member in several Downers Grove-based veterans’ groups, serving in leadership roles.

In addition, he serves as an officer of Downers Grove Masonic Lodge 824.