Joe Hornaday
Staff Sergeant Kipper J. Hull was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army on July 13, 2009 following a 20-year career.
Hull entered the Army on July 11, 1989. He accomplished basic training in Air Defense Artillery at Fort Bliss, Texas. His Advanced Individual Training (AIT) was also at Fort Bliss where he was trained on the Patriot Missile System that was ultimately very effective in Operation Desert Storm.
In 1990, he was reassigned to Giebelstadt Air Field near Wurzburg, Germany and attached to Air Defense. He was in Germany when he received word that the 56th Air Defense Artillery would be shipped to Hafar-Al-Batan Saudi Arabia with Operation Desert Shield. During the first Gulf War, Hull was with 7th Corp. under the command of General Fredrick Franks. With the ending of hostilities in the Gulf, Hull was sent back to Giebelstadt to complete his enlistment requirements. He transferred from Active Status to the U.S. Army National Guard on Dec. 16, 1991.
During his years in the National Guard, he participated in several deployments here and abroad. He spent 11 months in Bosnia with United Nations peace keepers, and provided protection as security for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Hull also spent three months following the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. There, he assisted civilians and kept the civil order in Mississippi and Louisiana. His last deployment was a second stint in the Middle East, then performing duties in convoy security in Iraq. His unit was attached to the 76th, which was the single biggest deployment of U.S. Troops since World War II. He was welcomed back to civilian status by his proud family and friends.
In April of 2008, the Greensburg Daily News interviewed Hull’s girlfriend Christy McClure, his mother Mickie Hull and his two daughters, Kyra and Lizzie. He had left for Iraq in early 2008, while the four women eagerly awaited word from their hero.
Back in April, McClure said that she was counting down the 20 years until Kipper Hull could retire and return home. Now that he has been discharged, he can finally be home with the women who have patiently waited on him for so long.
