Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Angela Mc Kinzie | (From left) Sgt. Maj. Kevin Holmes, a native of Long Beach, Calif., who serves as the...... read more read more
Subscribe
by Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. Public Affairs
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq - Friendships made in the military can last a lifetime.
Three Soldiers who served in the same company in the 82nd Airborne Division in the mid-1990s were reunited on Camp Striker Nov. 16, friendship still alight.
"It was like being reunited with family," said Maj. Kenny Mintz, operations officer for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. "It was an exceptional moment."
Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Coop, of Keokuk, Iowa, now the battalion command sergeant major for the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, joined Mintz and Sgt. Maj. Kevin Holmes of Long Beach, Calif., the operations sergeant major for the 2nd BCT, at the brigade's tactical operations center on Camp Striker, Iraq.
Coop said that the group has been in contact continuously since their days in the 82nd.
"Sgt. Maj. Holmes and I lived next to each other on Fort Drum," Coop said. "We've all been in contact ever since (we met)."
When the trio was stationed at Fort Bragg between 1992 and 1995, Mintz was the company executive officer, and Holmes and Coop were platoon sergeants.
"I was in charge of maintenance," said Mintz. "Coop was one of the most meticulous people you could meet, and I loved finding errors. It made him so mad that some lieutenant found something wrong with his stuff."
Even though Mintz teased Coop they still kept a bond between them.
"When we worked together, we were an extremely tight-knit group," said Holmes. "There was no separation between any of the platoons – we all worked together. It was the best company I've ever been a part of, to this day."
"They're the three best noncommissioned officers I've ever served with," Mintz said.
"We had disagreements about how the maintenance system would work, but it was all for the right reasons," said Coop. "The company was one whole team."
Mintz found the time they worked together formative, he said.
"These are two guys that taught me about leadership, about the Army, about being a human being."
The trio found great humor in working together.
While they have been in touch since the beginning, it was special to meet in Iraq, they said.
"It was nice being able to link up out here in this environment," said Holmes. "It's always good to have old friends meet in unusual circumstances."
Coop is redeploying soon to the United States.
"It was nice of Coop to come and say goodbye to us," Mintz said. "These guys are like brothers to me."
| Date Taken: | 11.27.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 11.27.2006 11:15 |
| Story ID: | 8376 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 402 |
| Downloads: | 141 |
This work, Soldiers reunite at Camp Striker, by Christina McCann, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
