Father's inspiration becomes cornerstone for son's success

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jody Metzger | Maj. Lance Hamilton, who serves as deputy staff judge advocate for the 4th Infantry...... read more read more

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jody Metzger | Maj. Lance Hamilton, who serves as deputy staff judge advocate for the 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, works with the MND-B staff judge advocate in supporting the chain of command with thorough and complete guidance on all matters of legal assistance to include claims, administrative law and operational law.  see less | View Image Page

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

09.03.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Jody Metzger 

Multi-National Division Baghdad

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By Sgt. Jody Metzger
Multi-National Division – Baghdad

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – "Well boys, should we fix the table or make skis out of it?" he asked, glancing from the broken wooden table to his two young sons.

It was the question his father asked one afternoon to make light of the situation. He chose to teach a lesson to his children instead of reprimanding them, instilling in them a sense of what is most important in life – a free moment of joy and laughter.

Maj. Lance Hamilton, who serves with the 4th Infantry Division, smiles with fondness when remembering moments like these which remind him of the happiness he shared with his father, Stan Hamilton, and the strong ethical values he later taught Lance and his brother.

Growing up in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., the Hamilton brothers batted, swam, ran and tackled their way through their younger years. Thanks to their civil rights activist father, they remained steadfast and loyal to academics. Stan's philosophy for his son's was that if you didn't get As, you didn't participate in sports.

Hearing that ultimatum as a young boy motivated Hamilton to pursue scholastic endeavors for the reward of being able to play sports. As gifted athletes, Hamilton and his brother, Harry, were excellent football players, playing all the way through high school. Harry earned an athletic scholarship to Penn State University; Hamilton wasn't far behind.

Graduating from Penn State, Hamilton followed on to study law at Yale University.
Now, as he looks across his desk nestled within the main headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division – Baghdad, he said he is content to know that his hard work and his father's deep-seated faith paid off.

Hamilton is currently filling the role of deputy staff judge advocate for the 4th Inf. Div., working with the staff judge advocate, Lt. Col. Tania Martin, on the mission of supporting the chain of command with thorough and complete guidance on all matters of legal assistance, to include claims, administrative law and operational law.

He had not set out initially to join the Army. In fact, after graduating from Yale with a law degree, his dream, like many other young lawyers, was to work for a big law firm. In 1991, shortly after graduation, Hamilton began his clerkship with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Petersburg, Fla. Following the clerkship, he went to work for a law firm, Holland & Knight.

Then, in 1996, a restless Hamilton got a phone call from his brother, Harry, who surprised him with the news that he had just enlisted into the Army's elite SJA Corps. Idolizing his brother, Lance set out in his brother's footsteps for a second time in his life and joined the Army.

When thinking about his decision to leave civilian law, he emphasized that he couldn't have made a better choice.

"I had a renewed sense of vigor when I left that private sector and felt like I was serving the greater good again," said Hamilton. "It tied it all into the many ways as when I grew up in my father's household again, always helping and serving and doing for others – and finally being able to do it has felt for me like being put into an elite class."

Joining the ranks of the Ivy Division family, Hamilton said he relates well with Maj. Gen. Hammond's concepts, influenced by lessons learned on the football team, a relationship they both share and take great joy in remembering.

The Division's motto – Mission, Family, Soldier, Team – could not ring more true to Hamilton's athletic past. Just as his athletic background taught him how to manage a team on the field, those influences have also lent themselves to the organization of the staff judge advocate office.

"Coming in, having played sports throughout most of my life and in my background, every time I'm in charge of anything or keeping an office of valuable people, I have always taken it back to my athletic roots as far as building a team because if you have a cohesive team working together, then it is much easier to accomplish your mission," said Hamilton.

Capt. Liz Waits, an SJA attorney, who works contract and fiscal law for the 4th Inf. Div. and Multi-National Division – Baghdad, remarked that Hamilton encourages the office to maintain a balance of work and play.

"He has a great attention to detail. On one side, he really pushes us to meet a high standard and on the other, gets us out and playing flag football," said Watts.

As an SJA officer and fellow member of the team, Hamilton is captivated by the strong leadership style he sees within the 4th Inf. Div. He noted that the influence Hammond, the commanding general of the 4th Inf. Div. and MND-B, has on the division mirrors his own ambition of success and teamwork.

"That is where we get motivation in the office – having good leadership – which always helps. It's easy for me because SJA is great. The chain of command, all the way up to the CG, is really oriented about the team concept and taking care of one another."

As athletics shaped Hamilton into a success, it was his father's beliefs of helping others that separate him from the rest. His father's moral sense of justice and continued civil service, while also single-handedly raising his two sons and their young cousin, was remarkable to Hamilton.

Today, humble and impassioned, he said knows that none of his success would have been possible without the philosophies of his father reminding him that family and working as a team are the only way to a successful mission.

"My dad always reminded us: 'I don't care how many yards you ran or how many tackles you've done, if you don't think about your fellowman and do something for those less fortunate, than you are nothing in my eyes,'" said Hamilton. "He was always looking for what you are doing for the greater good for society, for your country."

Stan Hamilton, father, military veteran and civil rights activist, gave more than he took. His teachings to his sons came from the back-breaking idealism of a street minister whose goal was to help others less fortunate.

"It is all I remember him doing," said Hamilton. "He was running street programs for various churches throughout the community, looking to help those who have fallen through the cracks of society."

The ministry his father spearheaded was dedicated to helping people whom the social services had forgotten or overlooked. Social services, for as much as they helped the community, could not help everyone, explained Hamilton. As a result, the ministry was dedicated to helping those who were left behind.

"My father would do it in a fashion that went beyond what the social services could do for the people. There are a lot of people who didn't qualify for the services. There were always those that wouldn't fit somewhere in the middle, those that have children and are working but not making the cut, and they fall through the cracks. "

The all-American, football-playing, free-smiling Hamilton has won many trophies in his life, paid in accolades distinguishing him from the rest. Yet, if you ask him what his most treasured reward is, he would reply, "being the son of an incredible man."

"One day I hope to be half the man he was, and if I am half the man he is, than that would be an accomplishment. If my sons would feel half as much about me as I feel about my dad, I would leave this place a happy man."