Photo By Staff Sgt. Adam Keith | Sgt. Ontario D. Conyer, a parachute rigger with the 647th Quartermaster Company waits...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Sgt. Ontario D. Conyer and Sgt. Duron A. Berry are two of the Army’s newest noncommissioned officers. Both Soldiers joined the Army two years ago from opposite sides of the country, Conyer, from Baltimore and Berry, from Los Angeles.
On July 1, they joined a group of NCOs from the 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade and the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and were welcomed into the NCO Corps during an NCO Induction Ceremony on Fort Bragg, N.C.
“The ceremony kind of put things in perspective for what it means to be an NCO,” said Conyer, a parachute rigger with the 647th Quartermaster Company. “Once you’re an NCO in the rigger field you have just as much responsibility as the Soldier packing the parachute. It’s a real big responsibility and I’m ready for it.”
Conyer said his family back home in Easton, Md. is what motivates him to do his best on a daily basis.
“A lot of people just graduate high school and stay in my hometown, but I wanted to do something positive,” said Conyer. “My mom tells me that she is proud of me just about every day. It makes me feel good, and I try to be good at what I do so I don’t mess that up.”
As a rigger, Conyer said it was especially important for him to know his job and the job of his Soldiers.
“I’m a senior rigger now and that means I have to make sure everything is rechecked and done correctly before it goes onto the aircraft. No mistakes,” said Conyer. “Be sure always, that’s the rigger motto.”
Berry, a motor transport operator with the sustainment brigade, said the opportunity to do something that only a small portion of the country does is what drove him to join the Army.
“I have a hunger to be a somebody. When you join the Army, you’re already putting yourself in a very small category compared to everyone else,” said Berry. “When I come home and everyone tells me how proud they are of me I feel like the hometown superhero.”
Now an NCO, Berry said he was looking forward to passing as much knowledge as he could down to his Soldiers.
“I had really good drill sergeants while I was in basic training,” said Berry. “When I got to my unit, my squad leader told me I could go as far as I want to go.”
That push by his squad leader took Berry to Air Assault School, Airborne School, winning his brigade’s Soldier of the Year competition and finishing as the runner-up in the XVIII Airborne Corps Soldier of the Year competition.
Much like his squad leader was to him, Berry said he looks forward to being that driving force behind his Soldiers.
“Some people don’t know how much they can achieve until you help them get there,” said Berry. “For me, the pride in my Soldier’s accomplishments is going to be better than the pride I have in my own accomplishments.”
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2015 10:52 |
| Story ID: | 170330 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Hometown: | BALTIMORE, MD, US |
| Hometown: | LOS ANGELES, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 352 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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