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Leader Mentors Deployed Soldiers
(September 1, 2009) |
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Army Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Foesch of Portland, Ore., from the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, believes deployments can be a positive experience for soldiers. |
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VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2009 – Army Command Sgt.
Maj. Robert Foesch of Portland, Ore., lights up with pride when he talks about
the enlisted soldiers he leads. He is the voice of the enlisted members for the commander, but taking care of
soldiers is the best part of his job, said Foesch, a National Guard member with
the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Base Defense Operations Center
sergeant major here.
"The soldiers who are most likely to be in a situation where they need help are
the lower enlisted guys, and that's the bread and butter of the Army,” he said.
“If we don't take care of those guys, we won't be able to do our mission."
He noted that deployments can and should be a positive experience for soldiers.
Deployments are what people make of them, he said, and people will improve in a
good command |
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climate. A lot of hard work is involved,
but soldiers can stay occupied through activities such as education
and physical training, he added. |
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"I look at it as an adventure,” he said. “There's stuff that you never would
have done if you weren't in the Army, and ... some it's not so great, but the vast
majority of it is really good stuff. We're doing stuff to help accomplish
America's goals and to help make America and the world a better place."
Foesch cited good leadership as the key element for developing young men and
women into mature adults on deployments.
"Right now, we're their mom and dad and their brothers and sisters. That's
huge," Foesch said.
Foesch said he believes that 41st Brigade soldiers will be assets for the state
when they come back home because of how they've developed their leadership and
decision-making skills.
"At home, you can sit around and play Xbox, and nobody's going to say a word
about it,” he said. Here, it doesn't work that way."
And the growth Guard members experience in uniform carries over to their
civilian lives, Foesch noted. Any employer who doesn't take a serious look at a
Guard member who has been deployed is missing out, he said.
Foesch, who has served in the Guard for nearly 23 years, said it has become a
much more professional organization where junior soldiers and noncommissioned
officers are capable of making huge decisions that used to be only in the
officer's sphere of influence.
"We're just cranking out a great product,” he said. “The vast majority of our
men and women are becoming wonderful citizens who are great soldiers and
leaders."
Foesch said his soldiers are busy learning new jobs and taking on new
responsibilities, and that by doing so, they will be more capable of handling
difficult situations when they get back home.
"I have nothing but the utmost respect for these guys and gals that are out
there every day with body armor on, carrying their weapons in very austere
environments [and] having a positive attitude," he said.
Foesch added that he hopes people look at the sacrifices young Guard members are
making to ensure everyone back home is safe.
"Truly, I feel like that is a part of this whole thing,” he said. “Everyone
should be proud of them. I know I am." | |
Article and photo by Army Spc. Cory Grogan
41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team
Special to
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
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