Photo By Jacob Boyer | Staff Sgt. Bret Klatt, a civil affairs team sergeant, helps Spc. Adam Engel, a civil...... read more read more
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FORT McCOY, Wis. - When Staff Sgt. Bret Klatt came to Fort McCoy, Wis., last year, he came to compete for the title of the Army Reserve's best non-commissioned officer. This year, he has a different mission: He wants his soldier to be named the best.
Klatt, a civil affairs team sergeant with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion in Rochester, N.Y., is sponsoring the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command's enlisted representative, Spc. Adam Engel, in the 2012 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition.
Klatt's experience has been crucial as he advanced to this competition, Engel said.
“I wouldn't be here without him,” said Engel, who was attending basic training when Klatt competed last summer. “Anybody could train and do PT on their own. It's the little things that he brings from experience that have helped me out. There are a zillion examples of how he helped me.”
Klatt, who lives in Rochester with his wife, Christina and sons Aiden, 3, and Logan, 1, said he drew from his experiences last year when the 401st asked him to help put together its best warrior contest in November 2011.
“Through the knowledge I gained going through all this last year, I was able to help create a pretty decent battalion-level competition modeled around what I saw here,” Klatt said. “We found the best soldier at our level and he did well at the next two.”
After Engel won the battalion-level competition, Klatt took him under his wing for the ensuing levels. Engel said Klatt helps him focus when he needs to.
“I tend to get hung up on things,” Engel said. “The thing he drove into my head was one thing at a time. You can't control what happened. You can't worry about the third or fourth event down the line. You have to focus on the next event.”
Klatt, who works in merchandising for Home Depot, has spent at least four months on active duty in the year since last year's Best Warrior Competition. He's also been deployed twice since he joined the Army Reserve in April 2001. He went to Afghanistan in 2002 and to Iraq in 2007. He said the support he receives from the Army Reserve and his employer make life easier when he has to be gone for long stretches.
“They're both very supportive,” Klatt said. “The Army more so because the people understand what families go through when you have to be gone. I think a lot of civilians just don't understand the sacrifice, but they're very supportive.”
After 11 years with one unit and the same military occupational specialty, Klatt said he is happy with his decision to become a soldier and plans to stay in the Army Reserve until he retires.
“I feel like I'm a better person because of it,” he said. “I'm more dependable; a better leader. Growing up, I was really quiet and shy. I still am to some extent. It's helped me break out of that and be more assertive.”
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 07.15.2012 08:24 |
| Story ID: | 91569 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Hometown: | ROCHESTER, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 170 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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