SSG Raymond Kokel was born in Harlingen, Texas.  While his father served in the Coast Guard him and his family traveled to places like Hawaii, Virginia, and Alaska. SSG Kokel joined the Army in 1996 were he has served as a Human Resource Specialist and currently as a Broadcast Journalist. SSG Kokel’s time in the service has taken him to exciting places like Bosnia, Egypt, Iraq and Los Angeles, California were he met and married his wife Angela they now have two children Jocelyn and Matthew. SSG Kokel sees his new position at AFN Hessen as a fun challenge he is eager to take on.