Ensuring honor and dignity: 3rd CAB Mortuary Affairs Specialists stand ready

Photo By Sgt. William Begley | Spc. Jeffrey Smith and Sgt. Levi Kadugyed, both with Headquarters Support Company, 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd CAB practice folding an American flag on Hunter Army Airfield March 7. The Soldiers are mortuary affairs specialists who perform duties relating to deceased personnel, including recovery, collection, evacuation and establishment of tentative identification. They also inventory, safeguard and evacuate personal effects of deceased personnel. (Photo by Sgt. William Begley, 3rd CAB Public Affairs)  

SAVANNAH, GA, UNITED STATES

03.08.2017

Story by Sgt. William Begley 

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade

HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, Ga. – The mortuary affairs specialists of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade have a unique mission. It is a mission they hope to never have to carry out. The mortuary affairs specialist performs duties relating to deceased personnel, including recovery, collection, evacuation and establishment of tentative identification. They also inventory, safeguard and evacuate personal effects of deceased personnel.
Leading the way for the mortuary affairs team is Sgt. Levi Kadugyed, Headquarters Support Company, 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd CAB. Originally from Micronesia, he joined the Army in 2010.
“Our main priority when we are back in Garrison is readiness,” Kadugyed said. “It’s our job to make sure that when we deploy, we have everything we need to take care of any missing in action (MIA), or killed in action (KIA).”
He is joined by Spc. Jeffrey Smith, HSC, 603rd ASB, 3rd CAB. Smith, a native of Elkton, Md., said he had done mortuary work before he joined the Army in 2014 at the age of 26. Smith was taking pre-medical courses and some chemistry courses at the University of Maryland and said that is where he gained an interest in the human body and the field he works in.
“I got a later start than a lot of people,” Smith said. “When I joined I was coming from a crematorium and mortuary where I was an apprentice and had become familiar with medical examiners and morticians and it was interesting to me.”
Why would anyone want to work in a field where the probability of working with corpses is about 100 percent? Both Soldiers understand the perception that is out there about the creepy type of mortician that likes working with dead more than the living.
However, these Soldiers are truly professional and they take their jobs seriously.
“Honestly, I was fascinated by the process. I like science and I love biology. To me it is the same as someone who has an interest in cars as a hobby,” Smith said. “The human body interests me. I certainly don’t feel I am one of those strange stereotypical mortician-type people.”
Smith said his most impactful experience he has had as a mortuary affairs specialist was during advanced individual training when his class got to tour Dover Port Mortuary and see first-hand what his job would be like.
“We were able to participate in everything from the ramp ceremony to identification to an autopsy and fully experience the process being carried out from start to finish,” Smith said. “It was interesting to see someone in the same uniform as you. In a funeral home you see mostly elderly and people you don’t have a connection with.”
Smith said it was truly an honor to witness the ramp ceremony for the fallen hero.
“We were in awe. I mean you see it in movies and it just not the same as being there,” Smith said. “The professionalism of the people carrying out the ceremony was awe inspiring.”

• Date Taken: 03.08.2017
• Date Posted: 03.09.2017 13:54
• Story ID: 226337
• Location: SAVANNAH, GA, US
• Hometown: ELKTON, MD, US