Values and Leadership: Army Reserve Military Police Soldier finds purpose in Kosovo deployment

Photo By Staff Sgt. Erick Yates | U.S. Army Spc. Clarissa Mitchell, a Military Police Soldier deployed to Kosovo with the 363rd Military Police Company out of Grafton, W.V., poses for a photograph with Sgt. Ryan Sanders, her patrol leader, after graduating the U.S. Army Basic Leader Course in a Nov. 17, 2015, ceremony held on Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo. Mitchell was named her class’s distinguished honor graduate. This was the second cycle of the BLC for the current rotation of U.S. Army Soldiers through NATO’s Kosovo Force mission, with the class led by instructors from the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy out of Grafenwoehr, Germany. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Erick Yates, Multinational Battle Group-East)  

CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO

11.17.2015

Story by Sgt. Erick Yates 

KFOR Regional Command East

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo – A Cleveland native, mother and U.S. Army Reserve Soldier was awarded the title of distinguished honor graduate in her Basic Leader Course while challenging herself outside of the familiar surroundings of home during a deployment to Kosovo.

Spc. Clarissa Mitchell, a military police Soldier from the 363rd Military Police Company, out of Grafton, West Virginia, and assigned to Multinational Battle Group-East, Mitchell was among 50 U.S. Army Soldiers serving on the Kosovo Force peace support mission who graduated the latest BLC iteration on Nov. 17 at Camp Bondsteel.

BLC was taught over a three week period by 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy instructors out of Grafenwoehr, Germany, where Soldiers were taught administrative duties and responsibilities of an NCO, as well as hands-on tactical engagement skills.

“This was not an easy course to just breeze through,” said Mitchell.

“I definitely was not expecting to be the distinguished honor graduate for my class, but I learned a lot throughout the process that is going to make me a better Soldier and leader,” she explained after the ceremony.

“During this course we learned everything from administrative processing to acting as a leader of a tactical patrol and making on-the-spot decisions as a noncommissioned officer,” she said.

Mitchell, a resident of Dilliner, Pennsylvania, and mother to a 3-year-old daughter, said being a mother helped inspire her to participate in the Kosovo deployment.

“I wanted to go on a mission where I truly felt I was helping others,” she said. “Having the chance to meet MP Soldiers from other multinational forces and learn in a different environment has made this deployment memorable.”

Not only has she earned the distinguished honor graduate award, Mitchell was also recently promoted to the rank of specialist on this deployment—an accomplishment she said surprised her, but made her feel proud to have earned it so quickly.

Sgt. Ryan Sanders, Mitchell’s supervisor and a patrol leader for the 363rd MP Company, said it’s been exciting to witness and help drive Mitchell’s growth.

“Because of the hard work and technical proficiency she has demonstrated during the seven months I have been working with her, preparing her for promotion was the likely next step,” he said.

Mitchell said that the experience she has gained from this deployment has given her some new career options to think about when she returns home and has even thought about becoming a parole officer.

“This mission has allowed me to not only build new relationships with people from all over Europe, but has helped me gain further understanding of the Army values and leadership,” Mitchell said. “I now see the role it plays not only in my military career and how it carries over to my civilian job and who I am as a mother.”

• Date Taken: 11.17.2015
• Date Posted: 12.04.2015 05:38
• Story ID: 183455
• Location: CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ
• Hometown: CLEVELAND, OH, US
• Hometown: DILLINER, PA, US