Courtesy Photo | Pfc. Brendon Caudill, a native of Brownston, Ind., and an automated logistical...... read more read more
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2nd Lt. Liz Lopez
210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — He stood at the end of the line of Soldiers selected by their companies to receive a coin Sept. 5, from Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, commanding general, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), out of Fort Drum, N.Y.
No one present at the ceremony would ever have guessed that this hard-working Soldier would receive a little bit more.
The awards ceremony for 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI), to honor some of their most distinguished Soldiers was almost over when the narrator misread: "Specialist Brendon Caudill."
Without missing a beat, the general handed the coin to the Soldier in front of him, before taking pause to stare at the rank insignia – clearly that of a private – on the chest in front of him.
What happened next is reminiscent of older wars, and even the most senior leadership in the battalion said that they had never seen its like.
"He asked me when I was going to be promoted," said Caudill, a native of Brownston, Ind., who serves as an automated logistical specialist in the shop office of Company B, 210th BSB. "I told him I didn't know."
In a single, decisive instant, the general resolved to give this Soldier a more definitive time frame, and promote him on the spot. He turned to the leaders standing to his left and asked for the rank of a private first class.
While 210th BSB Command Sgt. Maj. Spenser Gray fell out to find one, the general explained his actions to the Soldier standing before him.
"He told me that no one wants to be just a private, especially not a combat veteran," Caudill said.
Caudill could not agree more as the battalion fell in at "attention to orders" and the former insignia was torn from his chest, replaced with the single chevron and rocker that denotes a private first class. The Velcro-backed insignia had been borrowed from a fellow Co. B Soldier.
As the warehouse erupted in applause, now-Pfc. Caudill stood smiling, proudly displaying his new rank. The spontaneous promotion will remain a treasured memory.
| Date Taken: | 09.08.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2007 09:53 |
| Story ID: | 12278 |
| Location: | MAHMUDIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 246 |
| Downloads: | 218 |
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