COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Tribune News Service) — In 2005, Ben Kotwica was an Army captain who had flown dangerous Apache attack helicopter missions in the Iraq War. At 30, he was sitting in Kuwait and pondering his future.

Suddenly, a message arrived from Bobby Ross, who was then the coach at Army and previously led Georgia Tech to the 1990 national title and the San Diego Chargers to Super Bowl XXIX in January 1995. Ross was entering his second season with Army and had known about Kotwica from when he was a linebacker and team captain for the Black Knights a decade earlier.

"I got an email from Bobby Ross and he said, 'Hey, we're interested in bringing back a former player,' " Kotwica said. "So I just kind of saw that as a little bit of a light. I always wanted to coach. I just didn't want to be 45 years old and be like, "You know what? I could have been a good coach.'"

So Kotwica soon left the Middle East and became the defensive coordinator of the U.S. Military Prep School from 2005-06. And it didn't take him long after that to rise in the coaching ranks.

Kotwica is now 48 and doesn't have to worry about any career regrets. He is in his first season as special teams coordinator for the Broncos and 16th in the NFL. His previous stops have included stints as special teams coordinator for the New York Jets, Washington and Atlanta.

"He has that experience," said Broncos coach Sean Payton. "Here is a guy who's served two tours and flown Apache helicopters for our country. (Kotwica is) an amazing teacher."

Kotwica's military career began after he got out of college at Army. He and a friend were contemplating what to do.

"I said, 'If we're going into this, why don't we do something that's pretty cool? Let's go and try to fly,'" Kotwica said. "So you took the test and then I ended up being an aviator. So then once you get into flight school, you pick an aircraft, whether it's a Chinook, the big ones, or the Black Hawk, which was more of a transport support helicopter, or the Apache. And I loved the mission. I loved the idea of the attack helicopter, providing close air support for troops in contact."

Kotwica spent eight years in the Army, rising to the rank of captain. He spent time in South Korea and Bosnia-Herzegovina before serving in the Iraq War and facing live combat as a pilot.

While Kotwica prefers not to get into specifics about his missions, he said "there were some bullets that came across" and that he did a "handful" of firing himself.

"There were times where you're kind of hoping to get this aircraft on the ground in a safe manner. ... There were some times when you just liked to get back," Kotwica said of being at times in great danger. "But I would just say this. It was just good knowing that we were helping those soldiers on the ground.

"We were in an Apache helicopter, so when you can provide air support for what we call troops in contact or soldiers that were on the ground in a fire fight, it was good that we were able to help them out. ... When we went in Iraq, there was definitely somebody on the other side wanting for us to fail."

Broncos assistant head coach Mike Westhoff, who has served as a mentor since Kotwica entered the NFL in 2007, has heard plenty of war stories from him over the years.

"He was in where they were shooting back and forth," Westhoff said. "He was in very active duty, which was tough. I'm a big benefactor of our military. ... Ben's a good man. He's been a good coordinator. He'll continue to be one."

Westhoff, 75, is longtime NFL assistant whom Payton said would be in the "Hall of Fame of special teams coaches" if there were one. Westhoff played a key role in bringing Kotwica to the Broncos.

After two years of coaching at Army, Kotwica joined the Jets in 2007 as a defense/quality control coach. On the staff then was Westhoff, who was the Jets' special teams coordinator from 2001-12.

Kotwica became the Jets special teams assistant and worked closely under Westhoff from 2009-12. Westhoff said he saw immediately that Kotwica was "bright" and that he "learned quickly."

Kotwica took over in 2013 as Jets special teams coordinator after Westhoff moved on to New Orleans to work with Payton, then the Saints' head coach. He then had stints as special teams coordinator with Washington from 2014-18 and Atlanta from 2019-2020. After serving last season as Minnesota's assistant special teams coach, he joined the Broncos in February.

"Mike has been a tremendous influence over the years," Kotwica said. "I was very fortunate in 2007 to link in with him and we built a relationship and we've worked well together. We've had a lot of success and I'm looking forward to showing that production here in 2023. That has developed from mentor to coach to friend, so it's been a really good working relationship."

Westhoff had been lured out of retirement by Payton and said he will return to being retired after this season.

"We share a lot of things," Westhoff said of again working with Kotwica. "He actually does more of the meetings than I do. I kind of sit behind and pull the plugs. We have a good relationship. We know how to do it, and it's been fun."

Considering Kotwica's background, he often is asked what analogies between war and football he uses when speaking to players. He said he doesn't make comparisons related to the "life and death" aspects of war but that there are similarities.

"The teamwork of relying on your buddy, that is real," Kotwica said. "So, just like when I was an aviator flying an aircraft, I had a crew chief guy that was fixing a helicopter. I don't know who fixed it. Somebody signed off on it and said, 'Hey, this is good to fly.' On the football field, you're relying on your buddy, whether it's the quarterback throwing the ball or the coverage on the defense or the special teams, the punter is counting on those guys to protect."

Along the way, Kotwica's military career has earned him plenty of respect in the NFL. The Vikings named him an honorary captain for a game last November against Dallas in which the NFL's Salute to Service campaign was recognized. And he would figure to be recognized again when the Broncos have their annual Salute to Service game in November.

(c)2023 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

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