Louis "Frog" Kondos served in the U.S. Army from 1980 through the end of 1983 as a field medic, reaching the rank of specialist E-4, he said. He said his duties included medical aid for soldiers in the field, morning sick call and keeping medical supplies ready. He trained at Fort Jackson in South Carolina and at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He was then assigned to Fort Ord in California, where he worked as an infantry medic and did hospital training.
Kondos said his training also took him to Fort Irwin in California and to Panama for jungle warfare school, where he earned a jungle warfare qualification. He said he also earned the Expert Field Medical Badge. In 1981 he was sent to Germany, where he was assigned to Wildflecken and traveled to Stuttgart for hospital duty. He said he attended a concert in Nuremberg where he saw Neil Young perform.
After leaving the Army, Kondos entered industrial construction, starting as a laborer and becoming a pipe fitter in late 1984, according to the story. He later worked in Texas, Louisiana, other parts of the country and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he spent about two and a half years in the refinery industry. He eventually became a general foreman. Kondos said the military taught him discipline and determination, and he urged younger people considering service not to be discouraged by difficult moments.