BASRAH, Iraq - These words of wisdom from a former drill sergeant are well known by any member of B Company, 36th Division Special Troops Battalion, who has stood in a company formation from the beginning of the unit’s deployment to Iraq for Operation New Dawn.
The only change now for the company’s readiness noncommissioned officer, from his days as a drill sergeant at Fort Benning, Ga., in the early 1990s, is that he’s even busier.
“I’m up by around 5 a.m. and out giving my Soldiers (physical training) tests by 6 a.m.,” said Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Leon. “From there I’m off to the company to make sure everyone is at their appointed place of duty and take care of company business.”
By “everyone,” the native of Newark, N.J., means all soldiers assigned to the battalion’s largest company – including civilian contractors and all Sailors, Airmen and Marines attached to the division – primarily for the personnel status report, but also for accountability.
The division headquarters, located at Contingency Operating Base Basra, is in charge of all U.S. military operations in the nine provinces of southern Iraq.
Leon wears several hats: readiness NCO, Life Support Area Dripping Springs manager, Staff Annex manager, contracting officer representative for non-tactical vehicle maintenance, liaison officer for the Oasis Bazaar, and for now, the acting first sergeant for the company while his boss is on rest and recuperation leave.
“The rest of my mornings are split between these places. I try to trade off days to make sure none of my areas of responsibility are neglected,” Leon said. “I also have two linguists assigned to me for the Oasis; they help me process potential foreign nationals who will be working at the Oasis for badges, do their biometrics, take care of background checks and pick up new employees from the airport.”
From there, it’s right back to taking care of Soldiers.
“There are NCOs out there who are more interested in their careers and how their [NCO evaluation reports] look,” said Army Staff Sgt. Jessica I. Figura, B Company administrative NCO. “He’s one who actually cares for every Soldier who works for him. He’ll fight for us.”
Leon is in and out of the office throughout the day taking care of his many tasks, said Figura. “But he’s really good with following up with us. He’s extremely busy, but he’s never so busy he puts us on the back-burner; he always has time for us.”
It’s easy to see why Soldiers are Leon’s priority by looking at his background. He originally served 13 years in the Army on active duty, but had to get out during the downsizing in the 1990s.
For the next nine years he worked overseas as a civilian contractor for the military serving in Saudi Arabia from 1999 to 2001 and Kuwait in 2002 to 2004 to train Soldiers preparing for Operation Iraqi Freedom. From there he worked with the Soldiers in Iraq until 2006.
He left active duty from Fort Hood, Texas, where he met his wife, a native of Killeen, Texas. Leon still lives in Killeen, where he maintained his residence while working overseas. It was as his daughter prepared to go to high school that he decided to finish out his career as a Soldier.
“She said she wanted me to stay home instead of going overseas all the time,” Leon said. “I saw a sign saying the Guard was taking prior military, so here I am. She graduates in June, so I’m taking my R&R to be there for her.”
Serving as an active Guard and Reserve Soldier has given Leon more than 18 years of total active military service. While he may be overseas again, this time he will be gone for a much shorter period of time, he said.
Afternoons are just as busy for Leon as mornings are. By 1 p.m. he’s usually over at the Oasis Bazaar making sure all is well with the vendors there, after which he heads over to B & B Service, which stands for al-Bahar and Bardawil, the company in charge of maintaining and fixing all non-tactical vehicles for the U.S., British and Iraqi personnel living and working on COB Basra.
Then it’s time to put on PT clothes and go assist with remedial physical training, a program designed to increase Soldiers’ physical health and PT test scores.
“Leon is all about putting his Soldiers first; right now he’s out there doing remedial PT with them, and he’s been out there doing it with them since day one,” said Army 1st Lt. Crystal M. Warren, B Company executive officer. “It’s a good example of his leadership skills.”
A quick cleanup after PT and Leon is back to company business, going back and forth to the Division Main Operating Center and other areas to help take care of his Soldiers’ issues. He also uses the time to process work orders for the areas he manages and follows up to make sure the job is done properly.
“I’m usually done around 7 p.m.,” Leon said. “The commander and I are usually the last ones at the company, and we talk about what has gone on during the day and what will be coming up next.”
“I think his background is what pushes him to keep everything moving forward,” said Warren. “He’s a very hard working individual, and he puts pride and dedication into everything he does. NCOs lead the way – and Sgt. 1st Class Leon is in the front.”