by Spc. Nathaniel Smith
4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
BAGHDAD – When Spc. Roy Burkhalter decided to re-enlist, he did not picture anything out of the ordinary for his re-enlistment ceremony: he wanted his old platoon leader to re-enlist him at his battalion's headquarters building on Forward Operating Base Falcon, which is located in southern Baghdad.
That would soon change, however, when his first sergeant informed him that the honor of re-enlisting Burkhalter would fall upon none other than Robert Gates, the United States Secretary of Defense, during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Falcon, Feb. 11.
The re-enlistment marked a landmark for the Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers of 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, as Burkhalter became the 1,000th member of the team to extend his career during the deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Burkhalter, a native of Rome, Ga., serves as a network specialist with the brigade's Company C, Brigade Special Troops Battalion. He said it was an honor to be the 1,000th Soldier to remain with the team, but the ceremony itself directly reflected on the "Dragon" Brigade as a whole.
"That's awesome – to be number 1,000 – but it's nothing that I've done," he said, adding that "it's the brigade's retention non-commissioned officers – all those guys throwing the options out there.
"The brigade's a really good unit, and people want to stay in the brigade as long as they can."
Sgt. Adam Chapman, the retention non-commissioned officer for Co. C, who is also Burkhalter's first-line supervisor, said having a Soldier from his unit represent the rest of the brigade as its 1,000th Soldier to choose to remain Army Strong also reflected well on the company.
"Our motto is 'We set the standard,' and what better person to be re-enlisted by the Secretary of Defense than my Soldier, who I feel is a very outstanding and deserving Soldier," said the Tampa, Fla., native.
Burkhalter is the 30th Soldier from his company to choose to continue his Army career. Among his benefits for re-enlisting for six years were a $12,500 bonus, a college option that will allow him to go to school for two semesters, and stabilization at the unit's home station at Fort Riley, Kan.
Despite the benefits the Army offered, he said his decision was based more on the Army lifestyle.
"People say the bonus is not high enough for the amount of years I'm re-enlisting for, but it's not about the bonus: it's about doing what I love," Burkhalter said. "When I signed the contract, I didn't feel any regrets or any second guesses about my decision. It was like: 'This is what I really want to do.'"
Chapman said helping to make sure his Soldier received the incentives was being offered was just a matter of seeing what his plans were for the future.
"I just had to sit down and talk to him, make sure I knew what his plans were, Chapman said. "I didn't want to impose anything on him. I wanted to see what he wanted to do with his career first and then place those options in front of him and let him pick.
"I gave him the option to change his job or re-enlist for a different duty assignment, to stay at Fort Riley, or go to college for two semesters and enhance his career on the civilian education level as well."
Burkhalter, who said he plans to turn in a packet for the U.S. Army Special Forces School upon redeployment, added that his reasons for wanting to continue his Army career were seeded in the environment he works in every day with the joint network node platoon of his unit.
"I've been surrounded by great leadership, and it's been an outstanding experience for me being out here," he said. "They've been really supportive. I love it – it's a way of life for me."