Courtesy Photo | John Carria, the site director at the Eygelshoven Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite...... read more read more
EYGELSHOVEN, Netherlands – When John Carria is not serving as the site director for the Eygelshoven Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite, he can often be found practicing and teaching Uechi-Ryū, an Okinawan style of karate.
The Army civilian employee and retired Army National Guard officer recently taught Uechi-Ryū during a women’s self-defense workshop at a Canadian military installation in Geilenkirchen, Germany, right across the border from Carria’s APS-2 worksite in the Netherlands. He also taught a couple of self-defense workshops for men and women at U.S. Army Garrison Benelux Brunssum, just six miles from the Eygelshoven APS-2 worksite.
Carria served 14 years in the Marine Corps, took a 10-year break to start his own business, and then returned to military service with the Army National Guard following 9/11. After a combined 22 years of uniformed service – enlisted and officer in the Marine Corps and then Army National Guard officer – Carria retired at the rank of captain in 2008.
Carria is 72 years old and originally from Rhode Island. He started learning the Okinawan style of karate at 16 in his hometown of Cumberland. As a young Marine a few years later, he said he was fortunate to be stationed on the Japanese Island of Okinawa for a couple of years where he was able to really hone his skills in Uechi-Ryū. And overall, he said he’s fortunate to have been a part of the Department of Defense most of his adult life.
“Yeah, I started out with the Marine Corps, but I’ll tell you what – the Army to me is one of the most outstanding branches of the U.S. military, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the Army team – the best of the best. Happy 250th birthday, U.S. Army,” said Carria.
The husband of 22 years and blended family father of seven children and grandfather of 13 grandchildren said working at the Eygelshoven APS-2 worksite as a member of Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux and as the site director for one of only six APS-2 worksites in Europe has been a challenge.
“I've done a whole spectrum of different types of work in logistics over my 42 plus years. This has been a new challenge to work in care of supply in storage, or COSIS,” Carria said. “I get the opportunity to work with employees here from the Dutch Ministry of Defense, and we also have about 30 Army civilian employees here, too.” The Egelshoven APS-2 worksite also includes several active-duty Soldiers, including the commander of AFSBn-Benelux, Lt. Col. George Horne.
“This is an unusual workforce, here. We understand the mission, and the people come to work with good attitudes. What we do here is huge because we’re pretty well forward. We’re a lot more forward than people think. The fact that we can support the Army mission and be right there when they need us, it's a big deal,” said Carria.
“The biggest thing we do is make sure everything runs, and the reality is we're the closest you can get to the tip of spear without actually being on the tip. And we’re able to move very quickly and get to the tip to issue equipment when called upon,” he said.
The Eygelshoven APS-2 worksite and the Zutendaal APS-2 worksite in Belgium both fall under the mission command of AFSBn-Benelux, 405th Army Field Support Brigade. The 405th AFSB’s APS-2 program provides turn-key power projection packages ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. The team from Eygelshoven and the teams at the other APS-2 worksites can rapidly issue combat vehicles and equipment sets to gaining tactical units at their worksites or at forward locations across central and eastern Europe using equipment configuration and hand-off areas, or ECHAs. APS-2 sites like Eygelshoven help reduce deployment timelines, improve deterrence capabilities and provide additional combat power for contingency operations.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.
The Army will celebrate its 250th birthday on June 14. For 250 years, the Army has offered endless possibilities and opportunities for service to our nation with over 200 career choices for Soldiers and more than 500 career paths for civilians. To learn more about the Army’s 250th birthday, visit www.army.mil/1775 and check out the DVIDS’s special Army birthday feature portal at www.dvidshub.net/feature/ARMY250.
Anyone interested in learning more about Uechi-Ryū or interested in requesting Carria for a self-defense workshop can email him directly at jmcarria@yahoo.com. “I’ve been practicing Uechi-Ryū for over 55 years. At this point I feel the need to give back to the community. I don't charge. I do it for free,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2025 05:33 |
| Story ID: | 494122 |
| Location: | EYGELSHOVEN, NL |
| Hometown: | CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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