WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan - In the mountains of Wardak province just south of Kabul, lays Forward Operating Base Airborne, where a 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division soldier conducts communications tasks day in and day out.
The soldier is U.S. Army Sgt. Brett Jenkins of Boise, Idaho, a multi-channel transmissions systems operator maintainer for Company C., 4th BSTB, Task Force Dagger.
“Sgt. Jenkins is a jack of all trades, because he does the work of a joint network node operator maintainer, works on routers, (is a) computer administrator and networking (specialist); encompassing three other military occupational skills,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Struthers, Jenkins’ former platoon sergeant from Buffalo, Minn.
After ensuring military communications were up and running at FOB Airborne, Jenkins and his soldiers volunteered to set up commercial Internet for the base.
The equipment was there when they arrived, but nothing was setup and there were no civilian contractors to maintain the equipment. Now, soldiers throughout FOB Airborne have access to commercial Internet.
“(He is) the best junior (noncommissioned officer) a platoon leader can ask for,” U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ashley Allen of Virginia Beach, Va., company executive officer for Company C and former platoon leader of 2nd Platoon, said about Jenkins “(He is) the go-to soldier for any mission. (Jenkins is) devoted to his soldiers, (he) will set aside personal time to aid in tactical training as well as physical fitness.”
“I’ve been able to adapt at FOB Airborne due to the cross training,” said Jenkins. “If a communication system goes down, who's going to fix it? We're deployed, and the signal soldier has to be the jack of all trades.”
“The learning curve really happened now that I’m here on FOB Airborne,” continued Jenkins. “At Fort Polk, if a system went down, there are personnel that will take care of information technology problems.”
Jenkins said he joined the Army in July 2007 to get away from bad influences in his hometown. He wanted to start a new life in the Army; because, in his hometown, he was working dead-end jobs.
Also at that time, the relationship with his girlfriend - now wife - was getting serious, shared Jenkins, saying they agreed about moving out of town; and the Army was the perfect opportunity to do so. After finishing basic training and advanced individual training, he married his wife.
His focus on providing for his family and being the best soldier he can be has not been overlooked.
“He’s a motivated and dedicated non-commissioned officer; he excels in any task or mission he’s given,” said Struthers. “He takes pride in his work. He goes above and beyond to help people within the military.”
“His leadership style is to never quit,” continued Struthers. “He doesn’t stray from any mission (and) takes time to educate and train his soldiers with the mission at hand. He’s a very valuable asset to the team.”
Jenkins previously deployed to Iraq, where he encountered improvised explosive devices and numerous indirect-fire attacks from insurgents. But now, you will find Jenkins performing a totally different job. He said he misses going outside the wire and he’s glad for that experience.
He re-enlisted in December 2008 when his daughter was born. Before joining the signal corps, he said his only knowledge in the information technology world was how to use Facebook and Internet Explorer.
Being given an opportunity to learn something new, having military benefits and knowing his wife and daughter are taken care of are reasons Jenkins said he re-enlisted. Jenkins said he also wanted to be around his second family for a few more years.
“The Army is more than a job, because the soldiers you work with are like a family,” said Jenkins. “Especially during deployments, the bonding that is developed … you learn to appreciate each other.”
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2011 17:21 |
| Story ID: | 71954 |
| Location: | WARDAK PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 843 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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