ALABAMA AGRICULTURE & MINNING UNIVERSITY (AAMU) MOURNS THE  DEATH OF ADA SERGEANT MAJOR WHO DIED DURING PHYSICAL TRAINING
(Click on the hyperlinked title above to read the Alabama A&M University press release.)

NORMAL, AL— Alabama A&M University and ROTC cadets on campus are mourning the death of one of their leaders.  Sergeant Major (SGM) (Retired) Randall Williams died Wednesday, February 1 during physical training.  He was 49 years old.

SGM Williams was a native of Brooklyn, New York, who rose through the ranks from Private to Sergeant Major, serving in Air Defense Artillery units throughout his career; and completing several overseas and combat tours.

A viewing for SGM Williams is scheduled for Friday, 3 February,  from 4-6 p.m. at Royal Funeral Home on Oakwood Avenue in Huntsville, Alabama.  A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 4, at 10 a.m. in the Ernest L. Knight Center on the Alabama A&M University campus. He will be buried in New York.

The Air Defense Artillery community is also saddened at the loss and expresses their condolences to the family.

94^TH AAMDC SOLDIER CHOSEN
TO ESCORT DOCTOR JILL BIDEN
TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Article by Sergeant Louis Lamar, 94th AAMDC Public Affairs

Above Sergeant Ashleigh E. Berg (right) a Malibu, California, native and the Executive Administrative Assistant to the Commanding General, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (AAMDC), was selected to escort Dr. Jill Biden, one of America’s most influential women and spouse of the Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to the State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, 24 January 2012.
(Photographer unknown.)

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — Instead of watching the State of the Union Address on television like everyone else, Sergeant (SGT) Ashleigh Berg, an Executive Administrative Assistant to the Commanding General of the 94^th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (AAMDC), was chosen to escort Dr. Jill Biden, one of America’s most influential women, there on Tuesday, 24 January 2012.

“I first met Dr. Biden in July 2010 while deployed to Camp Victory, Iraq,” said SGT Berg. “I was one of the eleven female soldiers chosen to eat lunch with her on her visit there.”

Berg was also one of the few people that were selected to sit in the First Lady’s, Box during the State of the Union Address.

First lady Michelle Obama and guests applaud during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, 24 January 2012. Front row, from left are, Jackie Bray, Obama, retired Captain Mark Kelly, Jill Biden, Sergeant Ashleigh Berg, Hiroyuki Fujita, Richard Cordray, and Sara Ferguson. Second row, from left are, Eric Schneiderman, Juan Jose Redin, Debbie Bosanek, Laurene Powell Jobs, Alicia Boler-Davis, and Colonel Ginger Wallace. (AP photo by Susan Walsh.)

Even the First Lady, Michelle Obama, need a shoulder to lean on once in awhile. On 24 January 2012, Sergeant Ashleigh E. Berg lent Mrs. Obama hers while she was making her way to her seat to listen to her husband, President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP photo/photographer unknown.)

When asked how she was able to get a “VIP” invite Berg said, “Dr. Biden remembered me from her trip to Camp Victory because we share the same passion for high heel shoes and she promised to maintain contact with us after her trip from Iraq.”

When Berg was first given the news that she would be attending the State of the Union Address, and with such esteemed company, she was really excited to be going there and felt really comfortable since she met Dr. Biden before.

“The speech was amazing,” said SGT Berg. “It related to service members and the military pulling troops out of Afghanistan. That part really touched me since my husband just deployed there.”When asked if she was nervous Berg said, “Not really, I was just nervous about the flight there.”

“My most memorable part of the night was reuniting with Dr. Biden since seeing her in Iraq and talking about our passion for shoe shopping,” said Berg. “Another moment was when Dr. Biden asked how my husband was doing and told me to tell him happy birthday. That really meant a lot to me because she actually remembered his birthday and since he recently deployed to Afghanistan last week,” said Berg.

“During my trip I also met President Obama and the First Lady,” said SGT Berg. “They presented me with a presidential coin from the White House.”

To the left are Sergeants
Ashleigh E. and Matthew L. Berg.
(Photo by Staff Sergeant John H. Johnson, 94^th AAMDC Public Affairs.)

Lieutenant General (LTG) Donald M. Campbell Jr., Commander, III Corps and Fort Hood, presents Staff Sergeant (SSG) Courtney A. Jackson, an Avenger repairman and platoon sergeant assigned to E Battery, 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery (E/4-5 ADA) Regiment, with an Army Commendation Medal during a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club (SAMC) induction ceremony held at the Phantom Warrior Center at Fort Hood, Texas, on 24 January 2012.

AIR DEFENDER IS INDUCTED INTO SAMC
Article and photos by Sergeant Maria L. Kappell, 69th Air Defense Artillery Public Affairs

FORT HOOD, Texas – Staff Sergeant (SSG) Courtney A. Jackson, a platoon sergeant assigned to E Battery, 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery (E/4-5 ADA) Regiment, was one of several noncommissioned officers (NCOs) inducted into the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club (SAMC) at the Phantom Warrior Center on 24 January 2012.

The SAMC is an exclusive U.S. Army organization for NCOs whose leadership achievements go above and beyond average expectations. The members of this club must possess a genuine and in-depth passion for the welfare, training and development of their Soldiers and their Soldiers’ families.

SSG Jackson, an Avenger repairman, encompasses those qualities and made it through the rigorous process of being inducted into the club.

SSG Jackson, from Riviera Beach, Florida, began his military service in August 2000. He has been deployed to Iraq, stationed in Korea, and held a multitude of job positions from shop foreman to drill sergeant. Not only has Jackson completed an array of military qualifications - including Air Assault, Airborne and Drill Sergeant - he also earned an associate’s degree from Columbia College of Missouri and plans on continuing his education to complete his bachelor’s degree in Human Resources.

SSG Jackson signed into the battalion in November 2009 and two months later, he was told by a senior NCO to get his packet together for the SAMC Board.

“Needless to say, I didn’t make it, but it started a bit of motivation and sparked my interest to complete a challenge that only 10 percent of NCOs will ever get … and that was to be inducted into the prestigious Sergeant Audie Murphy Club,” Jackson said.

He [Jackson] kept studying and preparing himself. After a few cheering words from other senior NCOs, and a few more tries, Lieutenant General (LTG) Donald M. Campbell Jr., Commanding General III Corps and Fort Hood, hung the prestigious club’s medallion suspended by a powder-blue ribbon around Jackson’s neck.

“This is a big deal,” LTG Campbell said in a speech given to the inductees during the ceremony. “Wear that [medallion] proudly.”

According to SSG Jackson, to become a member of the SAMC, “You have to want to live, eat and sleep taking care of Soldiers.”

Throughout his career, Jackson has had many opportunities to work with Soldiers from all walks of life. The first time he was held responsible for more than 10 Soldiers was at Camp Casey, Korea, as a squad leader. Working with so many Soldiers was a learning experience that would serve him well in the years to come, said Jackson.

During the induction ceremony, each inductee was introduced to the audience by one of their subordinates, and then they were individually congratulated by LTG Campbell and Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Arthur L. Coleman Jr., CSM, III Corps and Fort Hood.

General Campbell then left the newest members of the Fort Hood SAMC with one final thought.

“Always be the noncommissioned officer these Soldiers spoke about today,” Campbell said.

As the motto of the SAMC says, “You lead from the front!” This is what Jackson and the rest of the inductees have done and will strive to continue doing.


LTG Donald M. Campbell Jr., Commanding General, III Corps and Fort Hood, congratulates
SSG Courtney A. Jackson from E/4-5 ADA and other SAMC inductees after a ceremony held at the
Phantom Warrior Center on 24 January 2012.

~ ~
At left:  Specialist (SPC) Nicholas Caton assigned to B Battery, 4^th Battalion, 5^th Air Defense Artillery (B/4-5 ADA) Regiment, receives his combat patch in Southwest Asia on 20 January 2012.
~ ~
AIR DEFENDERS RECEIVE COMBAT PATCH
By Specialist Chad King, B Battery, 4^th Battalion, 5^th Air Defense Artillery Regiment

SOUTHWEST ASIA – On 20 January 2012, 81 Soldiers assigned to Bravo Battery, 4^th Battalion, 5^th Air Defense Artillery (B/4-5 ADA) Regiment, gathered to receive their combat patches at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia.

The Soldiers of B/4-5 ADA, deployed to Southwest Asia in November 2011 with a mission to conduct theater air and missile defense (AMD) operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

A combat patch, also known as right shoulder sleeve insignia, is traditionally an embroidered patch containing a unique formation created with symbolism alluding to the unit's formation. The 69^th Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Brigade patch consists of two comets circling each other. The comets allude to flight trajectory and swiftness.  The black disc in the comets signifies cannon balls.  The comets are placed in a defensive posture referring to the unit's mission and resemble the Arabic number sixty-nine.

As the Soldiers of Bravo Battery stood in formation before Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) William McKnight (Commander, 4-5 ADA), it was collectively understood they were a part of something important.

Ready for the ceremony, platoon sergeants and platoon leaders made their way through the ranks placing combat patches on the right arms of their Soldiers. The ceremony signified that the men and women of B/4-5 ADA had joined a proud tradition of American Soldiers that have served their country overseas during wartime.
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At right:  SPC Nicholas Caton, salutes Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thomas Martinez from B/4-5 ADA, after receiving his combat patch in Southwest Asia.
~ ~

LTC McKnight addressed his troops stating, “The Soldiers of Bravo Battery should be proud of themselves for being a part of the 1 percent that volunteered to put on the uniform during a time of war.”

“Many Soldiers can go their entire careers and not be bestowed the honor of a combat patch,” said Corporal (CPL) Quincy Baumeister, an air defender assigned to
B/4-5 ADA.

This is the first deployment for many of the Soldiers in Bravo Battery. For all the Soldiers of B/4-5 ADA, the 20^th of January will be remembered as a special day – the  day they were recognized as part of a highly trained force that serve this country in its global mission to protect freedom and America’s interests overseas.