Promotion reunites father, son in Iraq

Photo By Spc. Jessica Luhrs-Stabile | Sfc. Steven Rider, a native of Lowville, N.Y., and the brigade battle noncommissioned officer in charge with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y., promotes his son Sgt. Timothy Miller, a team leader with Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, before leaving for Forward Operating Base Hammer, Baghdad, Iraq, June 1. The father and son were reunited, after a year apart, on FOB Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq, for the son's promotion into the ranks of the noncommissioned officer corps.  

KIRKUK, IRAQ

06.03.2010

Story by Pfc. Jessica Luhrs-Stabile 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

KIRKUK, Iraq -- A smiling son and a father, beaming with pride, stood next to Mine-Resistant Ambush Proof vehicles on Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq, saying their goodbyes, after reuniting for the first time in over a year.

After a month of planning and help from his chain of command, Sgt. 1st Class Steven Rider, a native of Lowville, N.Y., the brigade battle noncommissioned officer in charge with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, out of Fort Drum, N.Y., boarded a flight to FOB Warrior, to see and promote, his son Sgt. Timothy Miller, a team leader with Alpha Battery, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, May 30.

Both of the chains of command were very supportive and did everything they could to help arrange this, Rider said.

Miller also agreed that his supervisor was very helpful. "When my chain of command got a phone call about my dad wanting to promote me, no questions were asked, they just wanted to make it happen," he said.

Upon Rider's arrival to FOB Warrior, he was reunited with his son and they spent their time hanging out, when Miller got off work.

On their third and last day together, June 1, Rider had the opportunity to pin his son from specialist to sergeant.

Miller has only been in a little over two years and he is already an NCO, as a father Rider, said it made him really proud.

Rider has been there for his son throughout his military career. "It means the world to do this. I was there for him when he enlisted, when he left for basic and now today the day he crosses over to be an NCO," said Rider, while he patted his son on the back.

"It is an honor to have my dad here," said Miller. "Other than having my wife here to see me getting promoted I couldn't have asked for anything more than for my dad to be here promoting me."

• Date Taken: 06.03.2010
• Date Posted: 06.03.2010 07:11
• Story ID: 50770
• Location: KIRKUK, IQ