FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) -- From serving with the Navy off the coast of Vietnam in 1969 to counseling soldiers as an Amy chaplain in Iraq, Col. Edwin Ahl has seen a lot in his military career.

Now he's retiring from active duty as garrison chaplain at Fort Riley and planning a new way of life in North Carolina -- maybe teaching, playing some golf and going to church on Sundays. He'll be honored Thursday at the northeast Kansas post.

Ahl left the Navy in 1972 and earned a bachelor's degree in geography, then joined the National Guard. During a night of prayer, he says, God called him to become an Army chaplain. He earned a master's degree in divinity and returned to active duty in the Army in 1988.