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A Soldier’s Story First Sgt. Robert Jennings |
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Soldiers receive
combat insigniasThis week kicked off with the soldiers of Alpha Company receiving their Combat Infantryman's Badge and Shoulder Sleeve Insignia. To be awarded the infantryman's badge, a soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, must be assigned to an infantry unit during a time when his unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must have actively participated in ground combat and been under hostile fire. Wearing the insignia on the right shoulder signifies the unit in which a soldier served in combat. It is also known as the combat patch.
Spc. Domingo Fallejo of Zambales, Philippines, received his Combat Infantryman's Badge from his team leader, Sgt. Jesus Navarro of Yakima, Wash., in a ceremony on July 11.
The ceremony kicked off at 2 p.m. July 11. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Mark Dewhurst, pinned the badges and insignias on the company commander, Capt. Todd Moe, and me. We in turn pinned the platoon leaders and platoon sergeants, they pinned their squad leaders, and the squad leaders pinned their soldiers.After everyone had received their badges and insignias, Dewhurst explained to all the soldiers that we had definitely earned this award over the last six months. We should be proud to be the first soldiers to wear the 25th Infantry Division Shoulder Sleeve Insignia on the right shoulder since Vietnam.
The ceremony ended with photos of the company. This is only the third time in six months that we have all been together at the same place. Thanks to Charlie Company for taking care of our observation posts so we could participate in this long-awaited ceremony.
13 July 2226 hours >> One of our observation post reported hearing three mortar rounds being fired 400 meters from their position in the middle of the city. None of the rounds hit the air base, so we dispatched the police to investigate points of origin and impact. They were unable to determine exactly who fired the rounds or from where. Initial casualty report: No one on the air base was injured; four civilians killed and unknown injured as two rounds struck a neighborhood not even close to the base.
Again our enemy has decided to change his tactics by aimlessly firing on his own people. It's hard for me to understand the mentality of a person who has so much hatred for another human being because of where he is from, so much hatred that he would ineptly or intentionally kill some of his own people to try to stir anger toward us.
Throughout the rest of the week, we continued our patrols around the city, monitoring the police and Iraqi National Guard as they learn their new trades. We are trying to take on a lesser role in the city since the transfer of power. We are letting the Iraqi people learn to do things on their own.
I want to end this week with my condolences to the family of John Prehn. John passed away Thursday on Oahu as he lost his battle with cancer. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends. I wish we could have talked war stories; I had a few I wanted to share. You're not in any pain now, old friend; they'll be talking "Johnny VO" stories for some time to come.
God Bless and Aloha.
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Soldier sees positive impact
This week, meet Pfc. Michael Elliott, a grenadier for 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon. He is from Strathmore, Calif., and has been in the Army for 16 months. Elliott said he really thinks we've made a positive impact here. "The work we've done out in Amu Shabi has sure made it better for the kids," he said.
Pfc. Michael Elliot
He went on to say: "I think we've definitely helped the police get better at their job. The proof is how quiet the city has been lately." I asked Elliott what the memorable part of the deployment has been. He said, "I don't know how much I'll remember about the deployment down the road, but I'll always remember the day we got hit by the ambush."
He added: "I'll never forget Staff Sgt. Nunes. He had a different demeanor than a lot of other leaders. I never heard him raise his voice, but the job always seemed to get done." He finished his interview by saying hi to all his family back in California. "I love all you guys, and dad, don't worry; I'm keeping my powder dry."
First Sgt. Robert Jennings
1st Sgt. Robert Jennings is deployed in Iraq with 4,000 25 Infantry Division (Light) soldiers from Schofield Barracks. He writes a Sunday column for the Star-Bulletin that began Feb. 1, 2004. Jennings, a 20-year Army veteran, has been assigned to Fort Riley, Kan., Fort Campbell, Ky., Fort Lewis, Wash., and Camp Casey in South Korea. He is now on his second tour at Schofield Barracks. He has been deployed to Panama, Japan, Germany, Egypt and Thailand. As the first sergeant of Alpha Company, Jennings is in charge of 135 soldiers.
See the Columnists section for Jennings' earlier dispatches.
