Guantanamo service member's promotion a family affair

Photo By Sgt. Emily Greene | Navy Capt. Robert Elrod, right, takes the oath of office from his father, Alvin Elrod, during a promotion ceremony at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Jan. 4. Elrod, who works with the Office for the Review of Detained Enemy Combatants, is deployed in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Elrod's father, mother and wife were able to visit the island to participate in the ceremony. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released by a court. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

01.15.2010

Story by Staff Sgt. Blair Heusdens 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

Promotions are an important part of any military career and an important event to share with friends and family. For Navy Capt. Robert Elrod, deployed with Joint Task Force Guantanamo in support of the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants, his promotion to the rank of captain was one more milestone in a Navy career in which his family played an important role.

Elrod's parents, Alvon Sr. and Ruby, his wife, Shannon, his eldest brother, Alvon Jr., and his wife Maureen, all traveled to U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for the ceremony, held Jan. 4. Like several of his previous promotions in the Navy, Elrod chose to have his father, an Air Force veteran, participate. This promotion, however, was special because Alvon Sr., who retired after 30 years as a colonel, was able to promote his son to the equivalent rank in the Navy.

As one of six children growing up, Robert Elrod followed the example of his parents — his mother a teacher and his father a professor at Clemson University — and pursued a degree in mechanical engineering before being commissioned into the Navy as a submarine officer. He is not the only one of his siblings to follow in his father's military footsteps; his younger brother, Harold, is an officer in the Air Force.

"My experience with the military growing up made me realize that it was something I wanted to be a part of one day," Robert said.

When Robert found out he would be promoted while at Guantanamo Bay, he began making plans to have his family fly to the base through a program allowing family and friends of service members stationed at the naval base to visit the island. Robert said the opportunity to have family visit is one of the things that makes a deployment at JTF Guantanamo more family-friendly than a regular combat deployment.

"We're overjoyed to be here and very appreciative of the invitation," Alvon Elrod Sr. said.

During the ceremony, Robert's father read the oath of office, and his wife and mother pinned his new rank on his collar. Both parents expressed the pride they felt for their son's accomplishments.

"I'm still trying to hold the buttons on my clothes," said Ruby Elrod, Robert's mother. "I'm very proud of him."

For Robert, the presence of family, friends, his superiors and co-workers made the event more memorable.

"The fact that my friends, family and co-workers could all be part of the ceremony made it extremely special," said Robert.

• Date Taken: 01.15.2010
• Date Posted: 01.22.2010 16:29
• Story ID: 44296