By Maj. Rebecca Walsh and Sgt. Amanda Preddice
Public Affairs Officer and Specialist
Joint Force Headquarters
LANDER, Wyo. - Spc. Mitch Brauneis, 25, is humble. He’s not the kind of soldier who seeks out recognition or praise.
But, he’s the kind of soldier who does what he is asked and then goes the extra mile to do a little bit more.
Recently Brauneis, who serves as a fire direction specialist in the Wyoming Army National Guard’s B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 300th Field Artillery, was recognized as Lander’s American Legion Post 33 Citizen Soldier of the Year.
According to Post 33 commander Ken Persson, each year the Legion identifies and recognizes individuals for outstanding service to the community.
Brauneis, a Lander native, was nominated for the award by Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Adams, the readiness NCO for B Battery.
There was no shortage of admirable qualities for Adams to list in the letter of nomination.
“I believe that this soldier does not know how to do anything halfway and strives to get the most out of life in every situation he finds himself in,” wrote Adams. “He is a true role model that we should all strive to be more like and to make a difference while we are on this earth.”
“We recognize fireman of the year, law enforcement, EMT, educator of the year, and the other category we recognize is the citizen soldier of the year,” Persson said. “Those people who are members of the reserves that live in our community, drill in our community, we like to recognize them for what they do.”
For Brauneis this award is significant because he said he feels like he’s just carrying on a long, proud family tradition of service in the Wyoming Army National Guard.
His grandfather, Joe Molaskey, served in B Battery during the Korean War.
“He went over (to Korea) for a year, and just talking with him growing up was pretty cool,” Brauneis said. “I just have a lot of respect for what those guys did over there. (They were) pretty much in combat for a straight year.”
Another veteran in the family is Brauneis’ uncle who served in Vietnam and recently retired after 42 years in the Army.
“I’ve always looked up to him as far as that part of his life – being in the military,” he said. “And I have a cousin right now who is serving in the Army Rangers.”
Karl Brauneis, Mitch’s father, said he is proud of his son.
“Tradition, family, and honor – those kinds of things are really key for us,” he said. “Mitch wanted to be enlisted. He wanted to learn from the ground up, and he wanted to be in this unit here in Lander.”
Mitch’s mother, Marilyn Brauneis agreed.
“Mitch is really the go-to guy, he’s always the one that people ask, they know he’s going to get stuff done. His work ethic is just incredible. He just really always goes above and beyond,” she said.
Brauneis goes above and beyond on more than just drill weekends. In college he ran track and cross-country for the University of Wyoming where he studied range management. Now he works as a wildland firefighter in the summer and a carpenter in the winter.
As a firefighter he said he notices a direct relationship with
his military service.
“On fire crews and on engines you’re a member of a team,” he said. “Being out with members of the same team for weeks at a time, it’s definitely kind of hand in hand.”
Fire fighting, like military service, is also a Brauneis family tradition.
According to Persson, Brauneis has been selected to join the Wyoming Hotshots, a fire fighting team out of Greybull.
“That’s following in his dad’s footsteps. His dad is a smoke jumper so it kind of runs in the blood,” Persson said.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2015 11:42 |
| Story ID: | 159632 |
| Location: | LANDER, WY, US |
| Hometown: | LANDER, WY, US |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Field artillery soldier carries on tradition of excellence, by MAJ Rebecca Walsh, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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