NOGALES, Ariz. – “When you do a job you don’t like, you become a slave,” said Spc. Abalo “Soko” Sokoyepatoki, a heavy equipment operator assigned to the 103rd Engineer Company, 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade out of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
“When you do a job you like, like mine, then it doesn’t matter how much you get paid … you do it because it’s what you love,” he said.
Soko is one of 98 soldiers currently deployed in support U.S. Border Patrol’s Southwest border infrastructure improvement and construction program along the U.S./Mexico border here.
The road they are building along the U.S/Mexico border will provide Border Patrol agents rapid access even during the monsoon season when flash floods often make roads impassable.
He said that while he may be hot and tired, he loves every minute of it.
Ten years ago, Soko traveled from his home country in Togo, Africa to America with the hope of a better life.
“I was scared for my safety,” he said. “I wanted to serve in the military to help people and to learn about democracy, instead of dictatorship.”
While he works during the day operating heavy construction equipment in the arid desert of Nogales, Ariz., Soko is also a college student taking two courses in the evenings online.
He has applied for the U.S. Army Physician’s Assistant program and said that he wants to keep his mind fresh of the things he could be expected to do if selected for the program.
Soko also hopes to reunite with his family once their citizenship paperwork is finalized. He has a wife, Hortance, and two children.
His youngest child, six months old, has yet to meet his father, but Soko remains optimistic.
“I do my best, with a smile, everyday to set an example for my children,” he said. “I get up early, do P.T. (physical training), because it’s what we do, it’s how we become better.”
Soko has an Army physical fitness test score of 284.
“I wish we had a thousand Sokos,” said Staff Sgt. Corey Robinson, heavy equipment operator supervisor. “His attitude and professionalism are contagious.”
Soko said that he hopes to influence others to embrace all that the Army has to offer.
“Sometimes soldiers need a reminder that we are provided with so much,” said Soko. “Our families are safe, they have proper education, and we can travel throughout the world to make this place better.”
The military engineer homeland security support mission is currently being by the 103rd Engineer Company in support of U.S. Border Patrol. The project provides U.S. Army military engineer with year-round training opportunities.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2012 09:38 |
| Story ID: | 87655 |
| Location: | NOGALES, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Engineer soldier promotes Army esprit de corps, by MSG Heather Denby, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
