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Distinguished Service Cross Recipient Outlines Keys To Success
(October 20, 2009) |
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Sgt. 1st
Class Timothy Nein, who has deployed to Iraq
three times, serves with the Kentucky National
Guard's 223rd Military Police Company, at Camp
Taji, Iraq. Nein was awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross for his actions as a squad leader
with the 617th Military Police Company during an
ambush on March 20, 2005. |
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WASHINGTON (Oct. 6, 2009) -- Leadership and the Army standards are key elements
of success for individual Soldiers, a Distinguished Service Cross recipient said
during a visit here last week.
"The standards that are given by the Army - whether it be our leadership values,
our equipment we use or the training we employ - are so critical," said Sgt. 1st
Class Timothy Nein of the Kentucky Army National Guard during a visit to the
Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting here.
"These aren't things that were just thought up [on the] spur of the moment;
these are things that men have sweat blood for to develop so that we have better
tactics, techniques and procedures than any other country," he said adding, "and
because of that we're able to adapt on the battlefield more readily and quickly
than any other force in the world."
At the invitation of U.S. Army Forces Command,
Nein stopped by the Army's Sergeants Corner to
brief an audience on the events of March 20,
2005, when he was a squad leader with Kentucky's
617th Military Police Company. The convoy he was
riding in was ambushed |
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near the town of Salman
Pak, south of Baghdad, Iraq. |
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Under heavy fire, Nein and his squad put themselves and their vehicles between
the insurgents and the convoy. Nein and Army National Guard Sgt. Leigh Ann
Hester led a counterattack that saw 27 insurgents killed, seven captured and no
deaths in their unit. Two Soldiers were wounded.
Nein was awarded a Silver Star Medal that was upgraded to the Distinguished
Service Cross. Only the Medal of Honor trumps the DSC among awards for valor in
battle. Nein was the first member of the Guard to receive the award since the
Global War on Terrorism started in 2001. Hester also received the Silver Star,
becoming the first woman to receive the award for direct combat action.
Nein, who returned from his third Iraq deployment and fourth overseas tour this
decade in February, outlined three ingredients to Soldier success: The
importance of the Army standards, learning from mentors and leading and
mentoring other Soldiers.
The ambush that resulted in Nein's DSC reinforced these ingredients, he said.
"More than anything, it showed me ... how important the standards are that the
Army teaches and how, by using those standards, we can be successful each and
every day, either on the battlefield or just in the office," Nein said. "Knowing
our job, knowing our equipment and knowing what we're supposed to do, leading
Soldiers and mentoring Soldiers - how important that comes to play on the
battlefield."
Those leadership skills are, in turn, learned from mentors, Nein said.
"I've had the absolute honor, being a lucky Soldier, to have some really great
leaders," Nein said.
Those leaders gave Nein his foundation of understanding what the Army is about,
what right looks like, the Army Values, the Warrior Ethos and the Soldier's
Creed, Nein said - tools he passes along to others.
Nein is currently serving with the 198th Military Police Battalion as an
operations NCO helping to prepare Soldiers for future deployments. | |
Article and photo by Army SSgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau public affairs office
Copyright 2009
Reprinted from
Army News Service
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