Photo By Spc. Juliana Morrison | Spc. Christopher Swartz, a combat engineer with Company A, 425th Brigade Special...... read more read more
Subscribe
by Juliana Morrison
425th BSTB public affairs representative
KALSU, Iraq - When one joins the Army, from day one they are trained to live the Army Values. Values like integrity, duty, respect, loyalty, selfless service, honor, and personal courage. For Spc. Christopher Swartz, living those values is what being a soldier is all about.
The 20-year-old Paratrooper joined the Army in February 2005 in an effort to better his life and start a career as a combat engineer. Now, he is a team leader with Company A, 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division which is out of Ft. Richardson, Alaska.
Swartz came to Alaska fresh out of basic and advance individual training and Airborne School. He is now serving his country in Iraq.
Being in charge of three Paratroopers is a lot of responsibility for a young specialist but according to 1st Sgt. Darren Oliphant, Swartz is more than qualified for the job.
"He's a good soldier, he's disciplined, he takes initiative and you don't have to tell him what to do," he continued.
Being a team leader is nothing new to Swartz, he has been doing it on and off since he was a young private because of lack of non-commissioned officers within the company when the unit was first forming.
Swartz feels he has found his niche in the Army as a leader and he wants to continue to climb the rank ladder.
"I can go in two directions, I can go for job satisfaction, or I can make rank," he said. "I want to be a sergeant major one day because I like being in charge."
Growing up in Buffalo, N.Y. and graduating from high school in 2003, Swartz decided he needed to make a change in his life; he needed to go in a different direction. He got the idea to join the Army from his brother, Staff Sgt. Richard Swartz, who is stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
Swartz decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and become a combat engineer.
"I knew what my brother did as a [combat engineer], said Swartz. "When I got to experience it firsthand I knew it was what I wanted to do as well."
Just as his brother did, Swartz is spending this deployment clearing routes and looking for Improvised Explosive Devices.
Swartz prepared to go on a routine mission, Nov. 12, 2006, when the inevitable happened. During a routine route clearance mission, an IED struck the vehicle Swartz was driving. The blast sent his vehicle three feet in the air causing him to break his tailbone when the truck returned to the ground.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Otero, the platoon sergeant, was in the trail vehicle and attempted to make radio contact with Swartz after the blast.
"We didn't make initial contact with Swartz," Otero said. "We didn't know if he was dead or knocked unconscious, but it was about two minutes before we got a response." When they regained radio contact, Swartz told his team he
was alright.
The site was then secured and Swartz was moved to another vehicle and taken back to the camp.
When 1st Sgt. Oliphant got the news about his soldier, he was relieved Swartz was alright. "Swartz is a strong soldier, he was sore after the incident, but he wasn't hesitant about going back out there and completing our missions," Oliphant said. "We are lucky to have him, he is very smart on the equipment and he has learned a lot since we've been here."
Spc. Swartz went back to work on Nov. 17 with the intent to fulfill the mission at hand. "My job is to look for IEDs and to keep the area safe and I'm going to continue to do it because that's my job and I love it."
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 12.01.2006 08:13 |
| Story ID: | 8451 |
| Location: | ISKANDARIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 399 |
| Downloads: | 195 |
This work, Engineer endangers himself for the sake of others, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT