Photo By Sgt. Khylee Woodford | Craig A. Davis Sr., a Department of Defense civilian contractor serving as the...... read more read more
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It was a typical August morning in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the 1970s. The southern humidity thickened the air while the sun showed no respect for comfort as children boarded school buses in Craig Davis’ hometown.
A seemingly routine activity in today's age, but for this future retired infantryman, this day would leave a lasting impression.
"I was walking with my buddy," Davis explained. "We were waiting for the school bus to come around; it was filled with caucasians."
With a soft-spoken and articulate southern drawl, Davis recalls the 1960's and 70's as a time of tension with diversity; things one couldn't envision in this time.
"They all just sat on the bus," said Davis. "There was a group of us just standing outside, so I can imagine it made them feel uncomfortable; to see a crowd of African American kids staring at your bus. So the principal said, ‘okay, you guys disperse, go to your class or go somewhere else so these guys can get off the bus.’”
Despite the roar of racial slurs and obscenities being shouted from the bus, young Davis remained grounded in compassion.
"I just stood there," said Davis. "Then one kid came down, I shook his hand and said, ‘Hi, my name is Craig.' He gave me his name and he followed me through the school and then, after that, a couple of other people got off the bus too and they followed us, said Davis.
Behind his black facemask, Davis eye lightened up and said, "We didn't have any problems after that."
Despite enduring the cold world of racial inequality, Davis chose to combat hate and prejudice in his personal life, military and professional career with pillars of love and compassion.
"You have to draw a big picture so that they can see exactly where you come from and how you managed to survive all that," said Davis. "It can't be driven by hate; it's got to be some type of love and compassion. It's a generation of goodness you have to portray to show people where you come from," said Davis.
With a soft and joyful tone, Davis describes the influence his father, a veteran Army medic and mother, a nurse, had in establishing this foundation.
"Every day before you go to bed, you pray; you wake up in the morning, you pray," he said. "It was always ‘love you,’ before you go to bed, ‘hope to see you,’ in the morning. There was never a moment where someone went to sleep mad about anything; discipline was always driven by love and compassion."
Following in his father's footsteps, Davis became an infantryman, retiring after 22 years of service.
Soft, dark eyes peered into the distance as Davis cautiously shared his experiences in the military service where he remembers it not always being a place of equality.
"From a military perspective from when I was serving, I went through different places in the world," said Davis. "I watched these different cultures, and it just so happened, I noticed some of their lack of compassion towards other cultures.”
Throughout trying times of racial inequality, Davis stood on the strong precedence his father instilled in him as a child.
"My dad told me, 'Don't hate people because of their skin color, help them understand who you are and what you are about, maybe then, they can learn to respect you more,’’ said Davis.
Now serving the U.S. Army as a civilian contractor, Davis leads a diverse team of Other Country Nationals (OCN) and Local Nationals (LN’s) at the Ice Plant facility on Camp Arifjan where he continues to lead with the pillars he stood on as a teenager in Louisiana.
"I carried on the tradition of just caring; it's all about caring about people," said Davis. “Every day you go to one employee and ask them, how are you doing? Tell me the truth. No sugar coatin' nothing, don't hide anything, tell me exactly what's going on in your life.”
"You would be surprised at the answers you would get sometimes,” said Davis. "You just have to be prepared to handle it."
For Davis, leading by compassion in the world of COVID-19 means navigating the unique circumstances for his downsized staff of foreign and other country nationals.
"We are operating with half of our staff," said Davis. "We have some people who lost relatives too; they wanted to go home."
Davis, in a soft but unbroken voice, discusses how he tries to instill compassion in the workplace despite the loss of two close family members due to the deadly coronavirus.
"We had to take care of them here; make sure they were mentally fit to carry on our tasks as needed," said Davis." I try to give them what I give my family..it's all about a lil' love."
Firoz Khan, a supervisor of the other country nationals subcontracted to Davis' team, is a part of that family.
"I've been [working] 16 years abroad and about 15 years, I work for the Army," said Khan. "I was also in Iraq for seven years."
"For me [Davis] is better than being a supervisor," said Khan. "He treats us like brothers; we talk, laugh and he gives us advice if we do something wrong."
Davis, also called "Tony" by his team, has four adult children in Germany and two sons in the U.S. Despite being away from home during his own time of loss, his leadership remains grounded in compassion towards his workers in Kuwait.
"Right now, this is my family," said Khan. "We all here like a family, we eat together, we share with each other and everything. We support [each other] if there are any problems. Mr. Tony checks on us, every day, he asks, ‘are you okay, is anybody sick?’”
“We are like family," said Khan.
Although his gentle spirit is warm and inviting, Davis does not take his role as a leader lightly.
"It's just like any team you've been with for years," said Davis. “They understand my intent; it's a no nonsense approach as far as caring and taking care of people.”
"It's either you're on the train, or you're not,” said Davis. “You'll never see one of my guys fighting with no one. They will bring the fight to me, and I'll take care of it.”
From the heat of the civil rights movement to serving the nation, Davis' heart of valor and compassion are the pillars he grew up on and continues to stand on today.
"People first, if you don't take care of your people, or in other words, you don't care about them, they don't care about the mission or you," said Davis.
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2020 14:54 |
| Story ID: | 375506 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Hometown: | SHREVEPORT, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Army Veteran Melts Cold Hearts with Compassion., by SGT Khylee Woodford, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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