Former soldier turned Sugarland employee adjusts to life in Chapel Hill

In the heart of Iraq, Cody England learned to live out of a duffle bag.

Now England, 24, has shifted from a single bag to a single apartment, moving to Chapel Hill after his contract with the Army ended in September.

“It’s kind of surreal coming back,” he said. “I like the city and its small-town atmosphere.”

England, originally from Amarillo, Texas, said he joined the army at 19 because he always knew it was something he was going to do. Two deployments to Iraq and five-and-a-half years later, he is working at Sugarland bakery on East Franklin Street.

While he said many people are surprised by his contrasting job choices, it all makes sense to him.

“I’m just a huge contradiction,” England said, who added that his favorite cupcake is the sweet potato praline.

At Sugarland, his first civilian job, England runs the register and makes drinks.

“Customer service is a piece of cake,” he said. “And I really like coffee.”

Before being stationed at Fort Bragg, England went through nine weeks of basic training and three weeks of jump school, where soldiers learn to jump from planes.

“It’s ridiculous. They load everyone up in parachutes, and there’s a stop light on the plane,” he said. “When it turns green, everyone just starts jumping off.”

From there, he was trained to be a nuclear biological chemical specialist during a 22-week program at Fort Bragg.

“If by chance you were hit by something and you didn’t know what it was, it would be our job to figure it out,” he said.

But after all this training, England said it was still impossible to know what he would find in the field.

“You take a lot more for granted in the states than you do there for sure,” he said. “The army can give you what you already own back, and you’ll be ecstatic about it.”

Along with an ability to live on less, England said serving in the Army has taught him to work under pressure.

England’s first deployment to Iraq brought him to Baiji in August 2006. He said this deployment was especially hard for him because of heavy casualties.

England said his next deployment to Baghdad in December 2008 suffered no casualties and was much more laid back.

“We just got really good at Rock Band,” he said.

Although his second deployment was more enjoyable, England said he was ready to move on.

“I wanted to go to school,” he said. “I was anxious for it. Time couldn’t move any slower.”

England said he is considering studying at UNC but isn’t sure what he wants to major in.

“I change my mind a lot,” he said. “I like zoology and business, but it’s going to be something I do on a whim.”

Lt. Col. Monte Yoder, professor of military science, said about one-seventh of the cadets in UNC’s ROTC program have previous military service.

Yoder, who has served in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar during his 27-year military career, said some soldiers find the things they remembered and missed about their homes have changed.

“Everybody’s different, but the thing I observe most when I come back is color,” he said.

For others, like Durham County Elections Administrator Richard Rawling — who retired from the Marine Corps in 2005 as a sergeant major — adjusting to civilian life can be difficult because many people have preconceived negative outlooks on the military.

“A lot of people don’t understand what the military does,” he said.

Yet England, Yoder and Rawling all agreed their military service has positively impacted their lives.

“It’s weird hearing people say, ‘Oh, I could never do that,” England said of serving in the Army.

“Yes you could. I may not have recommended it while I was there, but now I definitely would.”

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