Know Your Defender: Sgt. Stephen Selman

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jaccob Hearn | Meet U.S. Army Sgt. Stephen Selman, company motor sergeant assigned to the 129th Area Support Medical Company, Alabama National Guard. Selman has spent 17 years with the 129th ASMC and #DefenderEurope 23 will be his last mission with them before transferring. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jaccob Hearn)  

ROMANIA

06.03.2023

Story by Staff Sgt. Jaccob Hearn 

131st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

“This has been a great mission so far,” Selman said, “Obviously there have been challenges and maintenance issues but that’s expected, and we know how to get things back up and running in a hurry.”
The 129th ASMC is a close-knit group but they’ve brought a lot of new Soldiers here for #SaberGuardian 23. Selman says that it has been a great opportunity for the newbies.
“Usually for our annual training we stay in Alabama so this is some of the best training we’ve had in a while,” he said. “Usually when we do this type of training, we only have our people to roleplay as casualties. But out here we’re not only getting our guys as role players but also Romanian soldiers to roleplay for our triage training.”
Selman said the language barrier has presented a unique but difficult opportunity for his unit. However, they all know it’s worth it, so they’ll be ready if there’s ever a real world event.
Selman said he’ll miss the 129th ASMC once he’s gone but would like to remind his Soldiers and everyone else to keep their heads up when times get tough.
“I ask my soldiers to tell me one good thing a day,” he said. “Find the little things that make this worth it. That way it’ll be easier to enjoy the bigger things.”
Saber Guardian 23, a component of DEFENDER 23, is an exercise co-led by Romanian Land Forces and the U.S. Army at various locations in Romania to improve the integration of multinational combat forces by engaging in different events such as vehicle road marches, medical training exercises, and river crossings.
DEFENDER 23 is a U.S. Army Europe and Africa led exercise focused on the strategic deployment of continental United States-based forces, employment of Army Prepositioned Stocks, and interoperability with Allies and partners. Taking place from 22 April to 23 June, DEFENDER 23 demonstrates USAREUR-AF’s ability to aggregate U.S.-based combat power quickly in Eastern Europe, increase lethality of the NATO Alliance through long-distance fires, build unit readiness in a complex joint, multi-national environment, and leverage host nation capabilities to increase USAREUR-AF’s operational reach.
DEFENDER 23 includes more than 7,000 U.S. and 17,000 multi-national service members from more than 20 nations who will participate including, but not limited to: Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jaccob Hearn)

• Date Taken: 06.03.2023
• Date Posted: 06.05.2023 06:36
• Story ID: 446204
• Location: RO