Photo By Master Sgt. Nathan Hutchison | Shane and Ben Kakac, father and son, both work at U.S. Army Sustainment Command. The...... read more read more
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – Nearly one-third of military recruits have a close family relative who is in the military or is a veteran. But serving the country comes in more forms than just serving in uniform, and that service can have just as much of an impact on family members.
Shane Kakac, Plans and Concepts branch chief for U.S. Army Sustainment Command G3/5/7 (Operations and Training), joined the U.S. Army Reserve at 17. He married, joined active duty and had a couple kids while stationed at Fort Polk (known as Fort Johnson since 2023), Louisiana, a few years later.
After three years of active duty, he rejoined the Reserve, moved back to Iowa and started his career as a Department of the Army Civilian. His son was in second grade when they moved to the Quad Cities area and Shane began working at Rock Island Arsenal, leaving the Reserve and continuing his civil service.
Shane ended up at ASC, the logistics element of U.S. Army Materiel Command, which sustains Army and joint forces around the world in support of Combatant Commanders. ASC bridges the national sustainment base to the Soldiers in the field, bringing together the capabilities of U.S. Army Materiel Command's subordinate units to provide the Soldier with the right equipment at the right place and time in the right condition.
“I started out in [human resources] when we first moved here and I ended up in our G1 (Human Resource Management),” said Shane. “I jumped into the intern program about a year and a half after I got here, and it was great.”
G1 focuses primarily on workforce management and sustainability, but Shane was interested in the operational side of ASC.
“I got to experience a bunch of the different directorates,” said Shane. “I picked G3, just because I like the mission, and I’ve been here ever since.”
G3/5/7 manages training, operations and future operations for all supply, maintenance and prepositioned stock missions across the globe. Shane, now 28 years into his government service, is an integral part of that mission – a supervisory plans analyst with a focus on long range planning.
“I serve as senior advisor to the entire ASC staff and subordinate units on operational and exercise planning and execution,” said Shane. “My branch consists of both a planning and force management cell, and I lead a team of military and civilian employees.”
And while his son doesn’t remember much of his dad’s time in uniform, his government service was a constant part of his life.
“I understood the importance of his work; I always looked up to him,” said Benjamin Kakac, Shane’s 29-year-old son and ASC employee. “I thought it was really cool that he worked at the Arsenal.”
Shane didn’t push his son to become a government employee. He did give him a fatherly nudge, though.
“I was never one to push him into it, and I don’t think he was ever like ‘I want to be a government employee when I grow up,’” said Shane. “I told him to do what you want to do and what makes you happy, but by the way, it pays the bills.”
Ben, who was studying finance at the Iowa State University at the time, took his father’s advice.
“He said it was a great opportunity with great benefits,” said Ben. “He’s always been happy. He’s always been passionate about his job. So, I thought, if he’s doing it and he likes it, I should give it a shot and see if I like it too.”
That was six years ago. Now, Ben works in G8 (Resource Management) for ASC. He joined the internship like his father and has quickly made ASC his home.
While they don’t have much interaction at work, the proximity allows for more family time.
“It’s nice being in the same area as him because I get to see him a lot more,” said Ben. “Most people don’t get to see their dads as much once they move on from college.”
But Shane has been around for a while, and Kakac is not a common name, so inevitably people make the connection in the office even if the two don’t interact much at work.
“Whenever other people are talking to me about my dad, it’s always great things – he’s a great guy, a hard worker,” said Ben. “It’s validating to what I already know.”
And those compliments are not without merit. Shane has spent more than 20 years proving his worth in G3 and ASC.
“The doors have always been open for me to move on and progress in my career,” said Shane. “It’s being patient, but ready as well, and just being good at what you do – continuously learning.”
And both father and son have shown aptitude for progressing in ASC. Shane is a supervisor in G3 and Ben has continued to progress during his five years in G8. Mom is also happy to have her son close by and in a fulfilling job.
“My wife is ecstatic he has a job here with the government,” said Shane. “She really likes the stability, and she knows the work’s good too.”
The Kakacs are a great representation of what government service and ASC has to offer. Whether former military, college educated, operational minded or a numbers cruncher, ASC offers a wide variety of career possibilities.
“My supervisor, and everyone around me enables me to progress to wherever I want to go,” said Ben. “And having my dad in the building as a mentor, he’s going to be one of the first guys I go to for advice.”
Both father and son plan on continuing to work at ASC for the foreseeable future.
“I love ASC and I love its mission,” said Shane. “It's one of those things that I'm going to do as long as I can until the day I ride off into the sunset, and then my son can take over.”
| Date Taken: | 01.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2025 10:18 |
| Story ID: | 488740 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Family lineage redefined with father and son DA Civilians, by MSG Nathan Hutchison, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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