Top Army Reserve Soldiers visit troops at Camp Bondsteel

Photo By Staff Sgt. Mike Hagburg | Pfc. John Kampstra, Tinley Park, Ill., shows Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, how mail is sorted during Stultz's visit to the Camp Bondsteel post office March 5. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hagburg)  

CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO

03.05.2010

Courtesy Story

116th Public Affairs Detachment

By Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hagburg

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — The chief of the U.S. Army Reserve and his top enlisted Soldier traveled here March 5 to talk with Army Reserve Soldiers in Multi-National Battle Group-East.

Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, commanding general of the Army Reserve and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Schultz, command sergeant major of the Army Reserve, were welcomed to Camp Bondsteel by Brig. Gen. Al Dohrmann, commanding general of MNBG-E.

Stultz and Schultz then lunched with Soldiers from MNBG-E's civil affairs and civil-military cooperation detachment, commanded by Lt. Col. Harold Kwon, Honolulu, Hawaii, where they discussed the role of civil affairs in Kosovo and the future of the civil affairs field in the Army. One issue the civil affairs Soldiers raised with Stultz was the need for longer periods of annual training. Stultz said he was working on this problem.

"In the Reserves we are budgeted by Congress for 15 days annual training per year," Stultz said. "We are fighting because as an operational force we more than 15 days a year to build readiness."

After lunch with civil affairs, Stultz and Schultz moved on to a tour of the Camp Bondsteel hospital, led by Col. Edwin Moore, Beverly Hills, Fla., Task Force Med Falcon commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Mikal Patterson, Rome, Ga. The Army Reserve leaders met and talked with Soldiers throughout the hospital. Stultz asked them about their hometowns, civilian employers and how their lives were going at Camp Bondsteel.

In a conversation with Patterson and Spc. Hope Turner, Columbus, Ga., Schultz stressed the need for Soldiers to take advantage of the military and civilian education opportunities at Camp Bondsteel during their deployment.

The hospital tour included one surprise — a promotion to sergeant for Ross Teigen of Oslo, Minn., who serves as a medic for Task Force Med Falcon. Stultz pinned on Teigen's new rank and led him in the Oath of Enlistment.

"Our non-commissioned officers are the best in the world. That's what distinguishes our Army," said Stultz. "Other militaries want to replicate what we have with our NCOs. When we elevate someone to the rank of sergeant, into the NCO corps, it is a special day."

Teigen said he was honored to be promoted by Stultz.

After touring the hospital, Stultz and Schultz moved on to see the operation at Camp Bondsteel's post office and to meet the Soldiers working there. After their post office visit, they departed camp.

"It was a pretty big deal. It was nice to meet him," said Sgt. Martel Bowen, Chicago, Ill., who works at Camp Bondsteel's post office. "From what I saw he seemed like a very good man. Being able to have a moment like that here at Camp Bondsteel is pretty cool. It's not part of the normal routine."

• Date Taken: 03.05.2010
• Date Posted: 03.07.2010 11:20
• Story ID: 46280
• Location: CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ