JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – Cold, dark, and dangerous.
These are the conditions faced daily by thousands of miners around the world. Unlike most, however, Spc. Jeffery Stewart also has a second job.
Stewart, a native of Evarts, Ky., is a human resources specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.
For the past three years, Stewart, 27, has worked as a coal miner in Kentucky’s Harlan County. Now, as a soldier, Stewart faces similar dangers being deployed to Iraq.
“The danger is about the same,” Stewart said. “You gotta be aware of your surroundings just like underground, because if you don’t pay attention, you could die.”
For Stewart, being a part of the Kentucky Army National Guard is about doing something unique, just in case coal mining isn’t unique enough.
“I just want to get away from everyday life,” he said.
Stewart is generally one of the unit’s more lighthearted members, often heard joking with fellow soldiers. But this doesn’t impede Stewart as a soldier by any means.
“[Stewart] shows a lot of initiative and seems willing to help do whatever needs to be done within the section,” said Sgt. 1st Class Terry Roark, a native of Goose Rock, Ky., and Stewart’s boss in the human resources section.
In civilian life, Stewart is a proud father of two sons and a daughter in Evarts, Ky. His duties as a father, soldier and coal miner are all in a day’s work for Stewart, who remains lighthearted and humble about his service above all else.