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1st Cavalry Division Reenlistment

Terry Wilkinson

During the last year, we have read-and continue to read-numerous stories of soldiers having emotional problems or depression related to past or imminent deployment. This is unfortunate because it is not always the case. When I had the opportunity to investigate this further, the following example became an easy story to pursue.

During the last calendar year I have followed the 1st Cavalry 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team deployment from Fort Hood, TX to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Marez, near Mosul, Iraq. At least a part of their mission was to continue to train segments of the Iraqi army so that it could take over the security of that region and continue to protect the population and related infrastructure.

One "Greywolf" soldier I became a bit more familiar with was Fire Support Specialist (13Fox), Jeremy Wilkinson, who originally took his basic training at Fort Sill, OK. He tells me that what first impressed him the most about the Army was the sergeants.

Especially those directed to train incoming recruits and give them the structure to begin to prepare for places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

After AIT (Advanced Individual Training) and special training at Fort Irwin, CA, he rejoined his brethren at Fort Hood and assisted in the preparation for their deployment to Mosul. As a result of his perspective and enthusiasm about his future in the Army, Wilkinson, from Stevens Point, WI, reenlisted well in advance of the end of his first enlistment term. He has indicated he intends to make a career out of the US Army.

Not unlike many young people, Specialist Wilkinson spent what he might describe as an unmotivated adolescence, and in fact, had to earn his GED before he could leave for Basic Training. However, he attended Alternative Learning Center earlier and made a point to pursue his regular High School Diploma which he achieved due to the "life experience" garnered in his service to his country.

The reenlistment ceremony came in the shadows of Dair Mar Elia (known in English as Saint Elijah's Monastery). According to Wikipedia and other sources, Dair Mar Elia was once a Christian Monastery which was actually used as an Iraqi armor unit command post during the original invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The monastery was founded around 595 AD by Mar Elia, an Assyrian Christian, and the monastery was the center of the regional Christian community. Ostensibly, Christians have visited the monastery for centuries to observe the Mar Elia Holiday, which falls on the last Wednesday of November. The monastery was renovated in the 17th century by Hurmizd Alqushnaya. In 1743, the Persian leader Tahmaz Nadir Shah ordered the destruction of its property and the death of the monks who dwelled there.

U.S. military personnel are frequently brought to the monastery on escorted tours, in order to widen their knowledge of Iraqi history. Understandably U.S. military chaplains have coordinated efforts to protect the site from further neglect and potential looting due to its location, within the current United States Army's FOB Marez.

Rather than the "doom and gloom" stories we typically read, the evidence in this story is more to the contrary. Wilkinson has become "an achiever" since joining the US Army and his reenlistment, within the proximity of a Christian Icon in Iraq, should be considered a tribute to his effort and that of the 1st Cavalry Division.

The information in this story was accumulated as a means of chronicling the efforts of military personnel who hail from the State of Wisconsin. The website (bravebadgerhome.com) is scheduled to become an operational website shortly as a means of assisting in the financial support of the USO.