Photo By Tristin English | Lt. Col. Jeffrey Church, Electronic Warfare Coordination Cell director, pins the rank...... read more read more
SOUTHWEST ASIA - When Master Sgt. George Staples was a child, he was given the nickname “Buck” by his family. A physical cross between a bear hunter and football player, he has broad shoulders, sports a bald head and a penetrating stare that screams for respect. His frame, hidden beneath the covers of the Army Combat Uniform, is not that of a body builder, yet someone who is stout, hardcore and often referred to as “country strong” from shoveling dirt and tossing hay bales.
Along with this dominating figure, Staples displays an infectious grin and welcoming personality that together, has garnered respect from his fellow soldiers and allowed him to progress through the enlisted ranks.
On July 1, Staples, the Long Beach, Miss., native deployed to northern Iraq from Fort Bragg, N.C., was awarded the rank of master sergeant, becoming one of only five soldiers in the electronic warfare military occupation specialty to ever reach this level.
“It was an honor to promote Master Sgt. Staples,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Church, Electronic Warfare Coordination Cell director. “The work he’s done here has had a huge impact in ensuring our electronic warfare soldiers are properly trained and arrive in theater ready to do the job.
What we do in the electronic warfare field is protect soldiers and keep them alive.”
As he nears the top of the enlisted ranks, Staples recalled when he hit rock bottom, early in his career.
After a failed attempt at college, and fallout with a friend, he found himself homeless and shoving his more than six foot frame into the small space of a truck cab. Surviving an entire winter in his truck, with everything he owned in a tool box, he enlisted in the Army Reserves.
Following Boot Camp at Fort Sill, Okla., he worked through a temporary job agency at factories while spending his one weekend a month with the Army. He left to perform his two-week Reserve duties and upon returning, found himself without a job.
“Because I worked for the temp agency, I was told ‘you don’t work here anymore,’” he said. “They had the temp agency find someone to replace me.”
After a year in the Reserves and working jobs just to get by, he decided a change was needed. Therefore, he became an active-duty artillery soldier and set out to make a career of the military.
Currently the senior enlisted member in Iraq in the electronic warfare MOS, Staples and the more than 100 troops also in the MOS use the electromagnetic spectrum to protect troops from improvised explosive devices.
“We help protect them from radio controlled IEDs,” Staples said. “We know it’s working because it wasn’t too many years ago that the majority of injuries and casualties came from IEDs and now those numbers are way down. The IED threat is still there, but not what it was in 2006.”
Staples was one of the first soldiers in the electronic warfare field which began approximately two years ago. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Luis Montero, an electronic warfare colleague who first worked with Staples at Fort Bragg, said Staples’ demeanor makes him a pleasant person to work with.
“We will joke and have fun together, but at the same time when we have to be serious about something we are,” he said. “He is black and white; if it’s wrong it’s wrong, if it’s right it’s right. I enjoy working around him and he’s a great soldier to be around.”
As a senior member of the MOS, Staples has his heart set on being in the forefront as the field continues to grow.
“I would like to work with other electronic warfare sergeants to educate commanders on how to bring electronic warfare into the battle,” Staples said. “A lot of commanders don’t understand what electronic warfare can do for them.”
Capt. Jeffrey Moss, Operations Company Task Force Dragon United States Forces – Iraq commander, has worked briefly with Staples, but already shares the same opinions as many others, referring to him as the epitome of a non-commissioned officer.
“Working with Sergeant Staples is a great experience,” said Moss. “He’s calm, cool and always has an answer. He’s extremely friendly and diligent and truly a man I can trust with any task. I can give him something, let him run with it and he’ll come back with every base covered and I never have to worry about lose ends.”
While he’s completing the tasks at his deployed unit, his penetrating eyes are set on reaching one more promotional goal to the rank of sergeant major.
Staples said he has five years before he reaches the 20-year mark of enlisted service.
“Once I get to 20, I’ll keep going until it isn’t fun anymore,” he said. “Everything I have I owe to the Army. I own a house, I have a family and I’m happy.”
With his goals firmly in place and attainable, the “Buck” doesn’t stop here.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2011 09:45 |
| Story ID: | 73506 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 423 |
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