Courtesy Photo | Staff Sgt. John Tune, a petroleum supply specialist with Task Force Wolfpack, 82nd...... read more read more
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KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Staff Sgt. John Tune, of Newbern, N.C., joined the Army long before 9/11 changed our world, creating a generation of young Americans joining the military for entirely new reasons.
Tune was a barber in a small town near Jacksonville and Camp Lejeune, N.C., and said he realized a decade after graduating from high school, his life wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted to make a difference, as he says, and get a chance to see the world- something his small-town barber job would never permit.
“I was doing hair, but I wanted to do something more than that,” said Tune. “So one day, I just decided to go down and talk to a recruiter. I joined the military at 28. I came in really late.”
Tune joined the military on Halloween day, in 1995. In 17 years, he’s been to Bosnia, Iraq, spent six years living in Germany, a few years in Georgia, Kentucky and Fort Bragg, and is now deployed with Task Force Wolfpack, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan.
For the small-town barber who wanted to see the world and make a difference, the Army has been a dream come true.
“I can tell you this right here, I think the Army is one of the best decisions I have made in my life,” said Tune. “I’ve done a lot of stuff; travel, education- pretty much everything I’ve wanted to do, I’ve done in the military. I don’t have a million dollars, but that’s alright. I feel like I can make a difference with the young people, and that makes up for it. I’m sort of a father-figure to these young people, and I feel like God put me here for a reason.”
Tune says family ties drew him to consider the military in the first place. All of his cousins and uncles joined, serving in either the Air Force or Marines. His sister joined the Coast Guard, reaching the rank of captain, equivalent of an Army colonel, before retiring.
“It’s a family tradition,” said Tune. “My brother-in-law just retired, and I have two nephews who are are going to be in the 82nd when we get back to Fort Bragg. It’s a family thing.”
As a petroleum supply specialist, Tune first served in Fort Stewart, Ga., then Germany. He said his favorite assignment, though, used his people skills to help others in Fort Campbell, Ky.
“The sergeant major was looking for a career counselor, and he said ‘I want Sgt. Tune. Everyone knows him, and he’s a good-hearted NCO,’” recalled Tune.
When he took the post, said Tune, his unit had the lowest number of soldiers re-enlisting on Fort Campbell. In just over a year, they had the top retention rates in the Army, he said.
“I was involving families,” said Tune. “A lot of soldiers who were re-enlisting were married with kids, so I brought the whole family in and sat down with the soldier’s spouse and kids. hen it wasn’t the soldier’s decision. It was the family’s decision. I got certificates of appreciation for the families and took the extra time to talk with them about career progression and stuff. Word travel led quickly after that.”
It’s the same application of caring about soldiers’ needs and success that makes him a source of motivation for his troops working long hours in all kinds of conditions in Afghanistan.
“Sgt. Tune genuinely cares about us,” said Sgt. Mia Ellington of Montgomery, Ala. “He’s the one who tells us we’re doing a good job, checks to make sure we’re doing alright, and even knows my kids by their names. I gave him a pop-quiz just to check. He remembered so you can tell he cares.”
Ellington says Tune stands out in the way he cares for soldiers.
“It’s like everything he knows, he wants to share it,” said Ellington. “He’s always telling me he’s training me to take his job. That’s a good feeling - knowing I’ll take over for him one day.”
It’s dedication to more than the mission of refueling aircraft that has won him loyalty from his soldiers.
“These soldiers I have right now, they’re amazing,” said Tune. “That’s why I get up every morning. I look forward to it because of them. When I get up to refuel aircraft, my soldiers are like ‘Hey, Sgt. Tune- what are you doing? I’ve got it.’ I can’t even go refuel aircraft anymore. They’re on it. They want to take charge and do it.”
He’s also known as the guy who doesn’t beat around the bush - the non-commissioned officer who just tells it like it is, said Sgt. Frank Knox of Charleston, S.C.
“I go to Sgt. Tune when I need something,” said Knox. “He’ll tell you straight up how to do something; how to get it done. If he’s got something on his mind, he’s going to tell you about it.”
As a supervisor, Tune’s forward arming and refueling point has excelled, pumping more than 2.3 million gallons into helicopters patrolling Regional Command-East without a serious incident or fuel spill. That’s unheard-of, he says.
“The reason I came in was because I felt I could make a difference, and I have made a difference,” said Tune. “People often email me to say ‘I really appreciate you talking to me about my career and personal life; no NCO has really taken a personal interest in me like that.’ I love working with the soldiers. I love that.”
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2012 02:15 |
| Story ID: | 90578 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, AF |
| Hometown: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | FAYETTEVILLE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | FORT LIBERTY, NC, US |
| Hometown: | JACKSONVILLE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 369 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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