Photo By Amabilia Payen | Capt. Olivia Cobiskey, left, scans the identification card of a Soldier assigned to...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas - The 455th Engineer Company, U.S. Army Reserve from Idaho, redeployed July 15 at the Silas L. Copeland Arrival/Departure Air Control Group after a nine-month mission in Afghanistan conducting route clearance.
According to the unit’s acting commander, 1st Lt. Andrew Turner, 455th was able to successfully keep their area of responsibility clear of improvised explosive devices, contributing to the safe travel of many coalition forces.
“We want to thank all the family members and organizations that supported us,” said Turner. “It’s really nice to know that people are willing to step forward and support us in every way possible.”
One Soldier, Spc. Matthew Walters, recalls how his father and uncle, also service members, surprised him during Thanksgiving by showing up at his forward operating base to spend the holiday with him.
It all started out that Thanksgiving morning, when Walters was awoken to conduct a convoy mission to pick up two very important people at Bagram Air Field.
“I was pretty bummed that I had to get woken up in the first place, to even go do that, because there was plenty of people already awake,” said Walters. “So we got down there, and when they came through the gate off the helicopter, I didn’t even recognize them at first. It took me a solid five to 10 seconds to even realize who it was.”
Walters was the first to speak when he recognized his uncle, Sgt. Maj. Matt Walters, and his dad, Criminal Investigation Detective Rex Walters. “You guys here?” he asked them as he greeted them.
Walters enjoyed that Thanksgiving, as he felt blessed to have spent the day with his uncle and father.
“We spent the whole day together. We walked around, and I showed them some things. We walked around the artillery fields and pretty much went and ate, and then just sat in what was like a little (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) room, and just chatted,” recalled Walters.
When Walters told his family back home of how his Thanksgiving went, he mentions everyone was surprised that it was made possible. Walters comes from a strong military family, with his mother as a Marine, his father a CID agent, his uncle a sergeant major, and his brother also a CID agent.
“I love my family very much, and I can’t wait to see them,” said Walters.
Walters will return to his civilian job working for Wells Fargo Bank and plans to attend college to study kinesiology.
Walters also claims their military presence is what kept the routes clear in their area of responsibility in Afghanistan. He contributes the 455th’s success to the strong unit cohesion, despite the fact that the unit had many cross-leveled soldiers from other units.
“The guys here, more than half of us were from other units,” said Walters. “Our brotherly bond worked pretty quickly. Within our platoon, everything clicked and we were able to get the mission done without any hassles.”
The 455th will now conduct demobilization with the Directorate of Mobilization and Deployment and return to Hayden, Idaho, once completed.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2014 14:12 |
| Story ID: | 137322 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | HAYDEN, ID, US |
| Web Views: | 210 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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