Military discipline meets professional hockey preparation
“It’s crazy how well the military and sports kind of overlap on mentality, because there’s days where you just don’t feel like you got it, but you still got to go do it,” David Arnold told CBS News Atlanta.
For more than two decades, Arnold’s life revolved around military service, discipline, and teamwork. Today, those same values guide him behind the glass as an assistant equipment manager for the Atlanta Gladiators hockey team.
Arnold served 23 years in the U.S. Army, concluding his military career with a deployment to Syria in 2020. Transitioning to civilian life brought real hurdles, as he went from a tight-knit community of service members who shared his experiences to an outside world that often struggled to understand his background. Hockey ultimately provided a familiar environment built around accountability and a shared mission.
His connection to the sport runs deep, sparked back in 1995 while growing up in Columbus, Georgia, watching the Columbus Cottonmouths. Now, those decades-long fandom roots support his daily work on the ECHL team’s equipment staff.
“Some of the stuff from the military, like being punctual, being on time, having a standard of excellence, things like that, plays into the sport,” Arnold told CBS News Atlanta. “Because just a fraction of a 10th of a second could be the difference of a puck going in the goal or not.”
He views the professional hockey players as blue-collar competitors who share the toughness and hard-working mindset he grew used to in the Army. He is not alone in the locker room, as fellow assistant equipment manager Marc Jastremski brings eight years of U.S. Air Force service and six years in the U.S. Navy to the staff.
Together, the two staff members share 37 years of military experience supporting the team behind the scenes. That preparation will receive public acknowledgment on Sunday, Nov. 15, when the Atlanta Gladiators host their Military Appreciation Game to honor Arnold and Jastremski.
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