A Krum native and Special Forces Green Beret officer died in Iraq on Sunday when he got out of a vehicle and stepped on an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. 1st Class Justin S. Monschke, 28, "encountered an IED in the course of conducting a dismounted movement to a suspected enemy position," according to information provided by the U.S. Army News Service.

His father, Larry Monschke of Fort Worth, said his son enlisted in the Army during his junior year of high school.

"He had to graduate high school first, but he wanted to go right away," Larry Monschke said. "So, as soon as he graduated, he left for boot camp a week later."

He loved being in the Army, and he served his country with pride, his father said.

Sgt. Monschke's mother, Patty Jett of Denton, could not be reached for comment.

Sgt. Monschke was serving in the south Baghdad region of Arab Jabour, Iraq, as a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha team weapons sergeant assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

He graduated from Krum High School in 1997. In high school, he played baseball and ran for the cross country team, his father said.

In 2002, he earned the legendary Green Beret.

Sgt. Monschke trained extensively in advanced military tactics, paratroop, emergency medical, Ranger, Special Forces and noncommissioned officer training. He earned two Army Commendation Medals, three Army Achievement Medals, three Good Conduct Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, campaign medals in Afghanistan and Iraq, a Global War on Terrorism Medal, and numerous badges and ribbons.

He served as an instructor at the U.S. Army Ranger Training Battalion in Georgia and as a squad leader and observer/controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

He deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom in July as a member of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force. This was his second deployment in the military and his first in Iraq.

Besides his mother and father, he is survived by his wife, Melissa, a daughter and son, Ashley and Ryan, and a stepson, Dylan, of Lillington, N.C.

dfielder@dentonrc.com; mzabel@dentonrc.com