By Mary Elizabeth Lonergan
Dequnoas Lee is new to The Council of State Governments, but his heart already fits the mission.
Lee, an operations coordinator for CSG South, served as an active-duty sergeant in the United States Army and now serves in the Army Reserve.
He joined the military in 2008 after looking for his next challenge.
“It was life-changing,” Lee said. “At the time, I was in school, and I wanted to be in school, but (also) didn’t. My parents were like ‘You have got to figure something out.’”
Lee did not want to immediately jump into the workforce and so he weighed his options.
“The only thing I could think of at that point was the military, because they have a lot of great benefits as far as buying a house and as far as education, so I felt that was the smart choice at the time,” he said.
Lee was able to accomplish huge goals in the military.
“The thing I am most proud of is I went in as an E-1 and came out of AIT as an E-3, and basically nobody really ever does that, so that was one of the highlights of my life,” he said, referring to the Advanced Individual Training soldiers complete to learn job-specific skills.
Lee said Veterans Day is a time to recognize all those who served in the military.
“Veterans Day to me means honoring those who served their country,” he said. “Veterans Day is about those who served… and giving back to those who served.”
Today, Lee has found a home at CSG.
“I wanted to work at CSG because I wanted to work in government without being in government,” he said with a laugh. “Basically, when I came in, it was nothing but love shown to me and throughout the time I’ve been here it’s been like a family environment. At this point, it’s something that I love to get up and come to work.”