One of the greatest aspects of my position as Team Chief has been having some of the Coast Guard's finest working for me. I continue to be impressed by their professionalism, dedication, and commitment to mission first. My team could not be complete without them. I've witnessed them work tireless, selfless hours serving soldiers. They have endured every hardship without complaint. Every one of them volunteered to be in Iraq as part of my team. Once they arrive, they don't want to leave until our missions are complete and the team can leave together. Unfortunately, I'm not in their Chain-of-Command because this isn't an established Joint-Service unit. They work for me based on a memorandum of agreement between my Army command and the Coast Guard. That means when the Coast Guard says one of their own serving on my team has to return to Kuwait I can't stop it from happening. I don't go down without a fight. I do my best to delay the departure as long as possible. Today I lost two of the best. I've fought their departure for almost two months.
Hud is a Boatswains' Mate First Class from Houston, TX. Taco is a Petty Officer Second Class from San Antonio, TX. Hud came to my team back in July and has been on mission for the entire time. He has done everything from helicopter hops to some of the remotest places in Iraq to riding convoys south of Baghdad to conduct inspections at tiny patrol bases. Hud endured rocket and mortar attacks and earned the Combat Action Badge. I joked with Hud that we're all safer now that he's leaving because he's a mortar magnet. Taco joined the team back in September. Although he's been with me a shorter time, he's been continually on mission and worked side-by-side with Hud the entire time. I've never seen either of these men down, bitter, complaining, or even angry. To the contrary, we've laughed until our sides hurt. We're all brothers - regardless of our parent service. I'm humbled, honored, and proud to have served with such incredible people. Hud and Taco, you will be sorely missed.
I took them to BIAP today for their flight. It was sad to see them go. A Specialist on my team rode along. I think he'll miss them more than any of us. After the plane left, we got back in the NTV and headed back to Camp Liberty. Martinez said, "We sure have seen some people come and go haven't we Sir?"
"Yeah Martinez, we sure have."
Hud is a Boatswains' Mate First Class from Houston, TX. Taco is a Petty Officer Second Class from San Antonio, TX. Hud came to my team back in July and has been on mission for the entire time. He has done everything from helicopter hops to some of the remotest places in Iraq to riding convoys south of Baghdad to conduct inspections at tiny patrol bases. Hud endured rocket and mortar attacks and earned the Combat Action Badge. I joked with Hud that we're all safer now that he's leaving because he's a mortar magnet. Taco joined the team back in September. Although he's been with me a shorter time, he's been continually on mission and worked side-by-side with Hud the entire time. I've never seen either of these men down, bitter, complaining, or even angry. To the contrary, we've laughed until our sides hurt. We're all brothers - regardless of our parent service. I'm humbled, honored, and proud to have served with such incredible people. Hud and Taco, you will be sorely missed.
I took them to BIAP today for their flight. It was sad to see them go. A Specialist on my team rode along. I think he'll miss them more than any of us. After the plane left, we got back in the NTV and headed back to Camp Liberty. Martinez said, "We sure have seen some people come and go haven't we Sir?"
"Yeah Martinez, we sure have."
No comments:
Post a Comment