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Of the 160,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 4,119 are 50 or older. At a time in life when most people are looking forward to retirement or eyeing Florida real estate, these soldiers are leaving behind corporate jobs and grandkids. Some even voluntarily postpone military retirement to go to war. Thomas has 28 years in the military, six in the Navy. He has four children and four granddaughters, the youngest 6 months old. He works as an NJ Transit police officer and is a former state trooper. He thought of retiring from the National Guard after 21 years, shortly before November 2003, when it became clear the 50th Finance Battalion in Flemington, his unit at that time, was headed to Iraq. "I contacted a couple of people and said, 'No more, there's no way my wife is going to let me go,'" Thomas said while taking a break from packing last week. Instead of retiring, Thomas was offered and accepted a promotion as the command sergeant major of the 42nd Infantry Division Support Command, the highest rank for a noncommissioned officer. The part-time role allowed him to stay in the U.S. and use his experience to help prepare troops to go to Bosnia while holding his full-time civilian job. His military salary is $60,000. [more

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