BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - On a recently cold, chilly morning inside the Camp Sabalu-Harrison Chapel at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, six Army Reserve soldiers stood at parade rest at the front of tent, facing a growing crowd of fellow soldiers entering and finding seats.
As Army Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, entered the front door, a voice called the building to attention. The six soldiers and dozens of the fellow soldiers snapped to the position of attention. Stultz immediately told the soldiers to “At Ease”as he made his way to the front of the tent.
This was the day the soldiers decided to raise their right hands to re-enlist in the Army Reserve. And Stultz would perform the ceremony. But, before he performed the e-enlistment, Stultz took a few minutes to praise the Soldiers and others like them.
Reserve soldiers, Stultz said, are people who, in most instances, have good jobs, good educations, and families. Still, Reserve soldiers are willing to put all that on hold to come to places like Afghanistan, and risk their lives, and even make the ultimate sacrifice.
Even though Army Reserve soldiers are away from their families. Even though they’re sacrificing what they have and even though they know they will probably be asked to do it again, Army Reserve Soldiers continues to re-enlist, Stultz said.
“They say ‘ I want to stay. I love the Army. I want to be a part of this.’ That’s awesome,” Stultz said.
On Jan. 22, 2011, Stultz re-enlisted Spc. Daniel Freeman, Sgt. Christopher King, Sgt. Joshua Pruitt, and Staff Sgt. Brian Behrend of the 414th Military Police Company based in Joplin, Mo. and Spc. Sergio Cabrera and Sgt. Tommy Thomas of the 96th Military Police Battalion based in San Diego, Calif.
Cabrera said that having Stultz perform the ceremony made the re-enlistment that much more meaningful. That the general would take time to spend with soldiers illustrates that leadership back home are concerned about Soldiers in Afghanistan.
“It lets me know that people out there really care about people here,” said the San Diego resident. “It’s a great feeling.”
King, a resident of Rogers, Ark. said said re-enlisting so far away from home was bitter-sweet. On one hand, he got a chance to re-enlist with his fellow soldiers, but his family couldn’t share the moment. Still, his wife was the first to know about the re-enlistment.
“I had to get her permission,” King said.
Stultz recently completed a tour of Afghanistan to greet and meet hundreds of Reservist soldiers serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.
During a three-day trip that included stops in Nangarhar, Helmand, Kandahar, and Paktika provinces, Stultz visited Army Reservists serving at Camp Eggers, Forward Operating Base Fenty, Forward Operation Base Sharana, Bagram Airfield, Forward Operating Base Leatherneck and Kandarhar Airfield. As of mid-January, more than 6,000 Army Reserve soldiers serve in bases, camps and outposts in Afghanistan.
In all, Stultz visited and dined with soldiers from more than 20 units. He awarded a Purple Heart, re-enlisted 17 soldiers, pinned 25 Combat Action Badges on soldiers, and presented his commander’s coins to nearly 50 soldiers.