Fighting for Country and Beethoven

During a stressful time, a National Guardsman still finds a way to lead his class

- By Sydney Page

Watching Sergeant Kohut teach music has “given me hope,” says a fellow guardsman.

Sgt. Jacob Kohut finally had some downtime during his 12-hour shift standing guard outside the U.S. Capitol. He could have spent his lone break napping or cracking jokes with fellow National Guardsmen. Instead, he sat in the back of a Humvee, flute in hand, teaching students via his laptop how to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

Kohut, 35, was one of the more than 20,000 troops providing security ahead of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in January. That meant he was on double duty, as an active member of the National Guard and as a dedicated school band teacher.

“I’m a soldier for the Guard, but I’m as much a soldier for music education,” he says.

Kohut has been in the military for 11 years as part of the 257th Army Band, playing the bassoon and saxophone. He also has been a band teacher for more than a decade, and for the past five years, he’s taught music at two Fairfax County, Virginia, schools—Canterbury Woods Elementary School in the morning and Frost Middle School in the afternoon.