Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Selvage | Spc. Franzel Arive, a logistician assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company,...... read more read more
ROME, N.Y. - Thanks to a dedicated career counselor, six Soldiers assigned to the 548th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, will forever have the memory of raising their right hand and swearing their allegiance to the U.S. Army in front of Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York, April 29.
Staff Sgt. Rogerio Brito, the 548th CSSB career counselor, said he was looking for a more interesting way for Soldiers to reenlist. He presented his idea to the command team and asked if they would like to be a part of a mass reenlistment ceremony that would be more of a day trip with some emphasis on military history.
Lt. Col. James Turner, the 548th CSSB commander, administered the oath of enlistment. For most of the Soldiers, it was their first reenlistment of their Army career.
“Books have been written about the greatest generation and their impact on our history,” Turner said looking at the handful of reenlistees. “Your history is still being written and will one day be told in books of your willingness to commit voluntarily during a time of war. The Soldiers represented here today symbolize another great generation of young leaders that have followed in the footsteps of Soldiers that have gone before them defending all the freedoms we hold near and dear.”
After the short ceremony, they were given a tour of the fort by Kent Bolke, the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum’s curator, who provided a plethora of information about the fort and its history.
“The Soldiers feedback was very positive, and they were very interested in the way that Bolke tied the life of our historic Soldiers with current day operations,” said Brito.
Known as "the fort that never surrendered," Fort Stanwix, under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort, successfully repelled a prolonged siege August 1777, by British, German, Loyalist, Canadian and American Indian troops and warriors commanded by British Gen. Barry St. Leger.
“This was my first reenlistment,” said Spc. Franzel Arive, a logistician assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 548th CSSB. “And honestly, it feels great because an opportunity opened up for me, and I was able to reenlist to become a counterintelligence agent.”
At the end of the day, Soldiers sat down and had lunch at a local restaurant before heading back to Fort Drum.
“The efforts put in to coordinating the reenlistment at Fort Stanwix was more than worth it,” said Brito. “The park rangers and supporting staff were great in facilitating getting my permit for the event with short notice.”
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2015 12:12 |
| Story ID: | 163654 |
| Location: | ROME, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sword Soldiers reenlist at National Monument, by SSG Michael Selvage, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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