Photo By Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony L Taylor | From the left, Staff Sgt. Kenita Bauerle, Capt. Ronald Painter, and Sgt. Taurean...... read more read more
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — The National Defense Authorization Act 2012 was signed into law by President Barack Obama in December of 2011, opening access to reserve forces in providing assistance to major disaster relief efforts and emergency management at the community-level upon a state governor’s request for assistance.
Capt. Ronald Painter, Staff Sgt. Kenita Bauerle, and Sgt. Taurean Coleman, all from the 327th Military Police Battalion, 200th MP Command, based out of Arlington Heights, Ill., met with State Sen. Matthew Murphy to share the capabilities and roles of Army Reserve local units to local leaders.
“We are not only a federal force, but [we] can also support the states. We have engineers, carpenters, and different skill sets in addition to [an Army Reserve soldiers’] civilian job skills,” said Painter. “Hurricane Sandy was one of the first cases where Army Reserve soldiers were called up in mass to support [relief efforts].”
In addition to sharing the roles, responsibilities and history of the local unit, Painter’s noncommissioned officers there shared their deployment stories with Murphy. Bauerle served at a detention facility in Iraq and Coleman served as a physical security sergeant in Afghanistan.
While discussing his story, Coleman also shared what it meant for himself to be a U.S. soldier and that part of that was being a role model always.
“I look at being a soldier as being a role model for kids,” said Coleman. “A lot of kids today [are in awe] when they see a person in uniform; so if I have that impression on kids, I feel like I should wear a cape, meaning that I should be a role model at all times.”
Painter closed with a few remarks regarding his experiences on a humanitarian mission following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation on New Orleans in 2005.
“It was just mass devastation. Houses were destroyed, sewage systems were not operational, and people were without running water and without food. I remember walking outside of a high school and hundreds of people were sleeping on the bleachers because they now didn’t have a home,” said Painter. “It was really humbling.”
Across the various topics of discussion, Painter stated that the large take away was that Army Reserve soldiers are “citizen soldiers."
“We discussed a lot of combat service, but we [also] support our community. These soldiers have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we represent citizen soldiers,” Painter said. “They’re people who have regular jobs and careers, but when they’re asked to, they put their lives on hold and move forward [with their mission].”
| Date Taken: | 03.03.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 03.09.2014 23:19 |
| Story ID: | 121752 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 259 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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