02/18/2022
Happy Friday Friends and Family of Bravo Battery!
We are on the finale of Bravo Battery Soldier Spotlight, and what better way to end it than with our Battery Commander.
CPT Girard has been the Commander of Bravo Battery for almost two years and has led our soldiers through live fire, two annual trainings, long pre-mobilization classes, COVID-19, and now a full deployment. On tour, you can find him playing pitch with the 1SG, socializing with foreign coalition partners, hanging out at “Shady Acres,” or in his office hard at work implementing plans to support the battery.
Let’s see what our Officer in Charge has for us as the final remarks here on Soldier Spotlight!
Q: What's something interesting you've learned on deployment so far?
A: I think the most interesting thing I've learned on this deployment is how to integrate so many units into a nonstandard mission such as defending a multinational base. The most important thing I have learned about is communication. Whether it be internal running 24/7 operations (which poses a huge challenge in itself), or communicating to multiple echelons on operations and what each level cares about, or communicating with different nations and the cultural/ language barrier that poses.
Q: What has been your favorite aspect about this tour so far?
A: My favorite aspect is learning about the cultures of many other nations. We have made many friends, and experienced a lot of different customs with our coalition partners. Drinking tea with Kurds, eating schwenker with Germans, sports with the Dutch, hanging with the Finnish in their Sauna, and many more experiences. It's like living at a weird version of Epcot for 9 months.
Q: What's a message youbwant to give to your family and friends back home?
It's been a rough year for all of us, and it is almost over. I am sorry I missed so many firsts with my son Gunnar, and left my wife Jess with many sleepless nights worrying about our home, Gunnar, and sometimes me. Jess is my hero for the resiliency and hard work she's shown this year. I can't put into words how much I love her for what she does for me, and it's hard to believe she still loves me after the ass pain that comes with being my wife. She's the best. Thank you to my parents, brother, in laws, and all the rest of my family who has helped keep things going back home, the support has been unbelievable. Finally, thank you to my friends. Chris Karnolisz, Jess's wife friends, and many more have been there checking in and helping however they could and I am forever grateful. I will be home soon.
Remarks:
“Commander's comments to the families (because I'm the boss and get to do what I want)
Since we are so close to the end I wanted to take a minute to thank the families and soldiers of B Btry.
Families, thank you for supporting your soldiers, each other, and me throughout this year. You all are the most important part of all of us, and your unwavering support has been a blessing. I am forever grateful to you all for the superb people you handed over and went without through important milestones, family gatherings, holidays, and every other day.
This Battery makes me proud every day. We are constantly commended on how professional and competent we are, and that is a direct reflection of the soldiers.
Each soldier has done their part to make this mission successful. Chris Cozadd, and Keith Hunt have acquired so much to help the battery by making friends with others on base. Codie Wardwell, Lindsay Collins, Brendan MacNeil, Durane Scribner, and Will Cahill have worked with our Base defense partners and gained their trust in a way no other battery could. Josh Smith has constantly advocated for the soldiers and took care of them administratively. All our command post, operations center, and gun personnel have rose to the occasion and done an outstanding job. Without a team like this we couldn't have done so well.
We've had great times and hard times, laughter and tears, and loved and hated each other. This group is truly special, and I again thank all the families for giving up their loved ones for a year. We've taken good care of them, and hopefully we are handing them back to you with mostly good memories and funny stories of their time with us.
Finally, I want to thank 1SG Seth Wilkinson for his constant support and friendship over this time. His mentorship for the decade we've been together has been outstanding. He has wanted to punch me in the face so many times this year for being stupid or being a jerk, and I'm thankful he hasn't. He is an incredible NCO who truly loves and cares for all our soldiers like no one I've ever seen. We are all lucky to have him with us.”
Well Bravo, that’s all we have for Soldier Spotlight here overseas. As always, we appreciate all of your support and encouragement, and our soldiers are very eager to end this journey and come home to see you real soon!
