VBC member and Army veteran Roy Lewis recently joined us on our Monday night virtual “Open Conversation” and shared bits and pieces of his 36-year Army career. While deployed to Iraq as part of The Surge of 2007, Roy kept a faithful diary of everything he experienced. We’ve selected excerpts below. Today, Roy lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and speaks widely on leadership. He’s the author of Broken Things: Moving Beyond the Pain of Brokenness and can be contacted through his website www.speaksgtroy.com.
Roy says this about his Army career:
“I grew up in New York and enlisted in the Army in 1982. My MOS was 76P10 Material Control and Accounting Specialist. It’s a pretty way to say ‘supply’.
I went to Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia [now Fort Greg-Adams] and then was assigned to the 118 Ordnance Detachment under the 11th Brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas.
I left active duty in 1986 and enlisted in the National Guard. I was a member of three state programs: Massachusetts, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
In 1999, I transferred to the Army Reserve and attended the US Army Drill Sergeant Academy at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It was the greatest challenge of my Army career. Drill instructor training requires more of a soldier than almost any other job.
I became an certified Army Drill Sergeant at age 40 and started training initial entry soldiers with the 321st Regiment under the 108th Division at Fort Jackson.
In 2006, my entire division was called up as part of The Surge to train the Iraqi army in Baghdad. I served alongside a Captain as the Logistics Liaison in an 11-man Special Operations team.
I returned to the United States in 2007 and served in various roles before retiring as a Sergeant Major in 2019 after 36 years of service.”
Read the article:
https://veteransbreakfastclub.org/my-year-with-the-surge-in-iraq-2007/
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