Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ron Keenan | Sgt. Casey Larkin speaks to students at Ban Klong Bang Pai School during Cobra Gold...... read more read more
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U.S. Army Sgt. Casey Larkin gives his full attention to the students interviewing him at the Ban Klong Bang Pai School in Rayong Province, Thailand. With a soft voice, Larkin politely answers the elementary student’s questions.
This is Larkin’s first trip outside the United States and it’s one he says he will never forget.
Larkin, a psychological operations non-commissioned officer assigned to Bravo Company, 5th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne), is participating in Cobra Gold 19, an annual exercise conducted in the Kingdom of Thailand. The exercise demonstrates the commitment of the Kingdom of Thailand and the United States to our long- standing alliance, promotes regional partnerships and advances security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
Larkin’s team is here to build community relations with the local Thai people by visiting schools and meeting with Chaplains and local government officials. Today, students at the elementary school are interviewing the soldiers from his unit to help them practice English.
“A few years ago I couldn’t imagine I’d be out here doing this,” explained Larkin. “That’s the best part about this, you’re always going into the unknown.”
Larkin, a native of Reno, Nevada, enlisted in the United States Army in 2013 as an infantryman. “I always wanted to do something like special operations or be an infantry sniper, so I decided to join the Army,” said Larkin.
After graduating the U.S. Army sniper course, Larkin decided to make a career change and volunteered for the psychological operations selection course. “I wanted something more, I wanted to travel,” said Larkin. “I decided to go to PSY-OPS for the challenge and opportunities abroad.”
Larkin was originally scheduled to go to Afghanistan, but plans changed and his team was listed to participate in Exercise Cobra Gold 19.
“Everything I thought I knew about Thailand was completely wrong,” he said. “There is so much culture in Thailand. It’s much different than what you’d see in Reno.”
Traveling throughout the world is common for many seasoned psychological operations soldiers.
“This is the fifth tour I’ve done in Asia,” said Staff Sgt. Anthony Holbert, the team leader in charge of Larkin’s team. “I’ve done missions in Korea, Afghanistan, Philippines, Hawaii and Thailand.”
“I would say this career field gives you the most opportunities to travel and integrate into a population,” said Holbert. “Cobra Gold gives us a great opportunity to hone our craft.”
“These kids are the future. We come back 20 years from now, on another Cobra Gold, and maybe they’re in the Thai military, or maybe they’re an elected official.”
While Cobra Gold marks the first time Sgt. Larkin’s has left American soil, it won’t be his last.
In two months, Larkin is scheduled to train in another country overseas.
“I’ll never forget this place,” said Larkin. “The people, the environment, the way they treat each other, that’s what I’ll take back home.”
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2019 18:50 |
| Story ID: | 310407 |
| Location: | RAYONG , TH |
| Hometown: | RENO, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 271 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cobra Gold 19: Exercise brings Soldier overseas for first time, by SFC Ron Keenan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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