Courtesy Photo | Command Sgt. Maj. Gallagher was the 3rd Battalion 15th Infantry Regiment CSM during...... read more read more
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FORT STEWART, Ga. - Conference rooms and buildings on Army installations from Hawaii to Georgia bear the name of Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith. The story of his actions, April 4, 2003, can be recited by most any soldier and especially by soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division.
During the Thunder Run into Baghdad, heroes were forged and legacies continued for others. One such man was retired Command Sgt. Maj. Robert (Bob) Gallagher. Those who knew and served with him describe the battle-hardened leader, with combat experience spanning three decades in places such as Panama and Somalia before Baghdad, as an inspiration.
A leader’s role is to motivate their subordinates to think on their feet. Motivate them to train to standard. Motivate them to better themselves. So, how does a leader accomplish the daunting task of motivating others?
Lt. Col. Harry (Zan) Hornbuckle, Commander 3rd Combined Arms Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, first met Gallagher, April 2003, outside Baghdad as the company commander (captain) and team leader of Team Zan.
According to some who knew, and served with Gallagher – “He was an inspiration to his soldiers,” said Hornbuckle. “He was able to motivate his soldiers through inspiration. He inspired them to be better soldiers.”
The lasting impact of that inspiration can be seen on the 3ID’s Facebook memorial post as well as on the Legacy.com memorial page with combined total comments over 1000.
Great leaders leave great impressions.
“I knew him as 1st Sgt.,” wrote Michael Arns, of Enterprise, Alabama, in the Legacy.com guestbook. “He was a man of men that everyone looked up to… 1st Sgt. Gallagher would always push me to my limits and then some. But he help(ed) make me the man I am today.”
“You always went the extra mile for soldiers,” added Chief Warrant Officer 3 Anthony Jackson. “I remember when you took me 100 miles across the desert to make sure every soldier received the same quality of food and to make sure they all got potato chips. Seems small but it meant so much to them. I enjoyed all the miles we traveled together, all the talks, and all the mentorship.”
The mentorship and care for soldiers rubbed off on several of his peers.
“Training and taking care of soldiers…I still carry that forward to this day,” Hornbuckle said. “His ability to motivate soldiers through just his shear honesty was always awe inspiring. He was one of those leaders that just by his proximity would inspire other soldiers.
He was always that calm in the storm, the unflappable leader, regardless of the amount of contact, regardless of what was going on, he was always the calm guy.”
Leaders are looked up to, leaned upon for guidance, and expected to lead by example no matter the situation.
“During the seizure of Baghdad he’s there with me in the middle of, it must have been two to three hours into it, pretty significant contact,” continued Hornbuckle. “Sgt. Maj. Gallagher comes by and says, ‘Hey, Sir, you want a cup of coffee?’ In the middle of all that! I will never forget that. It was a lull in contact, we shared a cup of coffee real quick, the next contact began and we got back to fighting.
Just a calm, anchor in the storm, an incredible leader, and amazing man. A guy other soldiers and leaders want to follow and emulate. It’s easy to say that the leader needs to be at the point of friction, it’s entirely different to live it, and he lived it.”
During the battle at Objective Curly, April 7, 2003, outside Baghdad, Gallagher was injured by shrapnel in his left leg. Hornbuckle recalls seeing the Command Sgt. Maj. limping by him.
“Hey, Sgt. Maj., are you alright?,” he asked. “’I’m fine, Sir, I think I took some shrapnel in my leg,’ and then he’s moving out. He led from the front and lived standards.”
“The way you tell it, it’s just another day,” I commented to Hornbuckle.
“For him, I think it was,” he responded. “That was just the kind of man he was. You talk about a guy who just exudes courage, is the calm in the storm, that was how he lived his life.”
Bradley Walker, who was a Spc. when he first met Gallagher in Fort Polk in 2007, was attached to Operations Group as a command driver, according to his Facebook post.
“Command Sgt. Maj. Gallagher quite often preferred to drive, and I’d ride shotgun while listening to him talk a mile per minute, while hanging onto every word that he said,” Walker wrote. “He was the epitome of what an NCO (noncommissioned officer) should be. ‘My friends call me Bob!’”
The comments about mentorship, inspiration, thanks and condolences have filled several pages online. Proof to the type of leader and man Command Sgt. Maj. Bob Gallagher was and continues to be through those whose lives’ he’s inspired.
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2014 10:02 |
| Story ID: | 146532 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 962 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, CSM Gallagher's legacy lives on, by SGT Uriah Walker, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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