Photo By Sgt. Samuel A. Nasso | Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob Hightower, a casualty evacuation corpsman for Marine...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Afghanistan — Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob Hightower, a casualty evacuation corpsman with Marine Aircraft Group 40, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, received the MEB-Afghanistan Sailor of the Quarter award for fourth quarter of 2009, on Dec. 26, 2009.
"Hightower is a very dedicated sailor that consistently performs at a level above his peer group," said Chief Petty Officer Edwin Brannan, a leading chief petty officer for the MAG-40 CASEVAC team.
The award officially recognizes the most deserving sailors of each quarter and consists of three rank-based boards. The boards are the Senior Sailor of the Quarter for petty officers first class, the Junior Sailor of the Quarter for petty officers second and third classes and Blue Jacket of the Quarter for seamen and below.
Each element of MEB-Afghanistan holds an internal set of boards and then submits the top candidate of each board to MEB-Afghanistan. The candidates are then evaluated based on ten categories: professional performance, leadership, military achievements, awards, educational endeavors, community involvement, the physical readiness test, deployments, enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare specialist and comments from each candidate's leading chief petty officer.
Hightower, a Chuluota, Fla., native, was one of more than 350 petty officers within MEB-Afghanistan who were eligible to compete for the Junior Sailor of the Quarter board. Hightower not only excelled beyond his peers, but showed how quickly he could take on the role of a corpsman operating with an aviation element, having come from a ground combat element.
"I have been there for the medical support on different large inserts and missions, flown a few routine medical evacuations and have helped the CH-53E squadrons with a lot of general-support missions," said Hightower, who came to MAG-40 from 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.
After attaining more than 100 flight hours, earning the combat aircrew designation with three gold stars, and one strike flight air medal, Hightower volunteered himself for additional duties.
He volunteered for and was selected to be a combat replacement hospital corpsman, allowing him to return to his roots and assist Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 7, MEB-Afghanistan.
During this time, Hightower provided medical support and guidance to the platoon he was assigned, conducted 37 combat operations, treated nine non-battle injuries, assisted in the recovery of 23 vehicles and was instrumental in completing the annual influenza immunizations for 2nd LAR, said Brannan.
"He has stood out throughout our deployment as a subject matter expert in tactical medicine and his experience with ground forces has been invaluable to our success," said Brannan."
Hightower also took initiative and organized the means to send packages to Marines operating at the various forward operating bases within the MEB-Afghanistan area of operations.
"We set up [assault support requests] to send packages to the Marines at smaller FOBs that only get mail occasionally and need the simple amenities," said Hightower. "I know how it feels to be isolated with 12 other guys and it's always a good day when packages come from home to remind you that there are people thinking about you."
His compassion for Marines at forward operating bases mirrored his leadership qualities when dealing with junior sailors.
"Hightower ensures that his junior troops are taken care of before himself," said Petty Officer 1st Class Traci Inniss, a leading petty officer for CASEVAC. "No matter what is going on, he is always there to help or take charge of the task at hand."
"I believe leadership is something that is inside of everyone," Hightower said. "Some people are natural leaders and some have to find it inside of them. I think you have to take the time to understand your juniors and peers to be able to lead them successfully."
This award was the second out of the three boards in which MAG-40 CASEVAC corpsmen received the award. Inniss received the honors the first time MEB-Afghanistan conducted the board.
"To have two MEB-A Junior Sailor of the Quarter awards in three quarters, while competing against the very best sailors within the MEB-A, speaks volumes of the MAG-40 sailors' commitment to excellence," said Brannan. "The level of motivation and technical knowledge of all the MAG sailors is extraordinary."
The CASEVAC team was pieced together from corpsman from each level of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force from the ground, air and logistic combat elements. Each member of the team brought with them different medical experiences and leadership styles.
"It shows the diversity of this group," Hightower said. "We all come from different areas of the Marine Corps, but we all came here and took on this mission and did what we could to make this deployment successful."
Upon receiving the award, Hightower also received the MEB-Afghanistan commanding general's certificate of commendation, as well as a coin from the CG, the sergeant major and command master chief.
As rewarding as this honor has been, Hightower overcame several obstacles to get where he is today. The most trying obstacle he had to overcome during the deployment was the tragic loss of his good friend Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos, an infantryman who volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, RCT-3, MEB-Afghanistan and died July 23, 2009.
"My orders were up after this deployment, but I decided to extend with 2nd Marine Division to come back and do my part to bring some of these Marines home to their families," Hightower said. "I know how it made me feel to hear the news about my friend and how his family felt. It kills me that I couldn't have been there to give him all I had."
Hightower has shown not only his dedication to taking care of Marines, but the level of excellence expected from the MAG-40 CASEVAC team. He is scheduled to return to 2nd Marine Division following his deployment with MAG-40 and plans to find an infantry battalion deploying back here in the fall.
| Date Taken: | 01.20.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 02.20.2010 00:25 |
| Story ID: | 45607 |
| Location: | CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF |
| Web Views: | 312 |
| Downloads: | 181 |
This work, Second MAG-40 Corpsman named MEB-A Sailor of the quarter, by Sgt Samuel A. Nasso, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT