Photo By Master Sgt. Mark Burrell | While on guard duty during his first combat tour, U.S. Army Pfc. Luke I. Schlueter, a...... read more read more
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KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Wearing black-rimmed ballistic glasses, U.S. Army Pfc. Luke I. Schlueter puts down his blue marker.
His hands, stained with ink and caked with dirt, pick up his body armor and helmet before leaving the dimly-lit plywood building on top of Observation Post Mustang.
The wind whips and the air is crisp on the 6,500-foot tall mountain in the Kunar province. Schlueter pulls on his gloves and adjusts his fleece jacket underneath before settling down to look through various sets of binoculars and scopes at the draws, spurs and ridges surrounding the small observation post.
For the last nine months in eastern Afghanistan, pulling guard has been Schlueter’s job as a cavalry scout assigned to Troop C, 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Bandit, of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
“I do my job ‘cause it’s my job, but my hobby is art,” said Schlueter. “Taking a blank piece of paper and making something out of it is just a way of reminding me why I’m here and what’s going on.”
Since the age of 6 growing up in Okinawa, Japan, Schlueter has been using art as a way to express himself. His mom would buy him coloring books but complain that he wouldn’t color in them; instead he’d trace the outlines.
While living at the top of Afghanistan, he has plenty of outlines to trace now.
“You got all these mountains,” said Schlueter. “Especially the clouds and everything that are here, it’s crazy. Where I’m from in Nebraska, it’s all flat. I mean, you get to see clouds and stuff but not like it is here. It’s … it’s … it’s ridiculous.”
Schlueter, from Bellevue, Neb., draws everything from mountains to people to animals to surrealistic landscapes to whatever his buddies ask of him.
“When people see something they want to draw and get something off their mind, that’s usually when I come into play,” said Schlueter. “They say, ‘Hey Schlueter, draw this,’ and it gives them a laugh.”
Since following his older cousin and sister into the Army, he put his talents to use at sometimes odd times.
“I was in basic training, and the night before you get out when everybody’s cleaning and everything, I got told to paint the barracks – all three floors,” Schlueter said. “I painted everything. And then I painted the squadron rock, which the squadron sergeant major gave me a coin for, because he was really impressed with it.”
In the tactical operations center at Observation Post Mustang, Schlueter has been working on another piece.
The past few days he has been hunkered close to a large eagle he’s drawing around his unit’s crest. Past unit emblems adorn the TOC walls providing a welcomed respite to the utilitarian maps, charts and electronic wires.
“It’s nice to work on a piece that’s going to be around for a while,” said Schlueter. His squadron’s blue and red logo covers nearly half of a TOC wall.
He added that soldiers’ esprit de corps could also be affected on their hilltop living quarters because of his efforts.
“I’ve been told the reason why Wal-Mart’s blue is because it helps people who are shopping be more relaxed. So yeah, I guess it makes people have better morale,” said Schlueter with a laugh.
From humble beginnings as a child “ruining” coloring books in Japan, Schlueter has come a long way. Now he uses his hobby to help bring a little more color to Army green.
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.31.2011 16:54 |
| Story ID: | 64543 |
| Location: | KUNAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 241 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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