KABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Today five soldiers from Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan, reenlisted for a collective 27 years.
Today five soldiers from Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan reenlisted for a collective 27 years.
Sgt. 1st Class Heath Harrison, Sgt. John Travis, Spc. William Bernos, Spc. Justin Mizell and Spc. Stephanie Buitron, are Alabama National Guardsmen with the 226th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Mobile, Ala.
Capt. Joe Farley, Garrison Access Control OIC, 226th MEB, administered the oath. Farley said it was an honor.
The decision to reenlist is a serious matter for consideration by soldiers and their families. Soldiers who choose to continue their service begin planning their reenlistment ceremony.
A request submitted to the operations section (S3) for a helicopter to accommodate the reenlistment ceremony made its way through the chain of command. Master Sgt. Paul Barnes, Operations Sgt. Maj. received the request for action. “It took some doing, but we got it done,” said Barnes.
It was loud in the helicopter. The pilot signaled when they were at a safe altitude over Kabul. Farley’s voice was loud and clear “Raise your right hand and repeat after me.”
Taking the oath dates to the Revolutionary War, when the Continental Congress established different oaths for the enlisted men and officers of the Continental Army. According to the Center of Military History the first oath under the Constitution was approved by Act of Congress 29 September 1789 (Sec. 3, Ch. 25, 1st Congress). It applied to privates, commissioned and noncommissioned officers. The enlisted oath remained unchanged until 1950.
The words of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).