'Snake Man' Embodies Humor
(February 25, 2010) |
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Army Staff Sgt. Steven C. Staley is known at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, for his selfless volunteerism and his sense of humor. He earned the nickname “Snake Man” from Afghan vendors after a prank he pulled involving a lengthy fuel hose and an empty sand bag.
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan,
Feb. 22, 2010 – Army Staff Sgt. Steven C.
Staley, an information network analyst for the
580th Signal Company here, is known for his
selfless volunteerism and his sense of humor.
But most of all, he is known by the Afghan
vendors of the local bazaar as ‘Snake Man' for a
beautifully executed prank he pulled at the
beginning of his deployment in August.
Each time he visited the bazaar, Staley would
ask the vendors if they could catch a cobra for
him. He told them he wanted to take a picture of
one with its hood spread.
“They all agreed the second trip I went out
there that they couldn't do it,” said Staley, an
avid hunter and a member of the Choctaw Indian
tribe who calls Seminole, Okla., his home. “But
they pointed to the hills, north of us I guess,
and said, ‘If you go over there, you can catch
one.'”
Staley told the vendors he'd try to catch a
cobra while on a patrol the following week. “And
that's when I started cooking up this little
plan,” he said.Staley found an empty sand bag
and placed a curled segment of a rubber fuel
hose inside it. With some clever acting, he
convinced the vendors that he had |
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a live cobra inside. |
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“I held the sandbag away from my body just to give them the
impression I had really caught one,” Staley said. “And they
saw me coming, and they were like, ‘Sergeant Staley, you got
one? You got a cobra?' and I said, ‘Well, yeah, but I didn't
catch it,' because they already knew I was scared of them.
So, when I got closer to them, two of them started backing
away and the other two put their hands on the top of the
sandbag, because they didn't want me to open it up.”
As the vendors began to communicate frantically in Pashtu,
the joke culminated in Staley's reaching his hand into the
bag, pretending to get bit, and throwing the hose up. Two of
the vendors screamed and a third began backpedaling in his
sandals, kicking up rocks and dirt as he went. Two U.S.
soldiers watching the performance from a distance said if it
had been caught on video it would have become a YouTube
classic.
Now, as soon as Staley steps into the gate of the bazaar
area he hears, “Snake Man, come over here!” he said.
Staley stands out in his unit not only for his antics, but
for his strong sense of duty to others. Staley said he is
proud to be a part of a unit that fosters a
volunteer-friendly command environment, and that he follows
the examples of Army Lt. Col. Ivan Montanez, the commander
of the 25th Signal Battalion, and others in lending a
helping hand.
When the first sergeant of the combat surgical hospital sent
out a request for help during mass-casualty events, Staley
answered the call. Now, Staley can be found at the hospital
during every such event, helping the medics prepare for the
incoming patients. Following the Dec. 31 attack on the CIA
compound at Combat Outpost Chapman, Staley stayed behind to
clean the stretchers and stretcher carts.
“If I can do that -- bring in the wounded -- that frees up
the medical people to do the patching and repairing. I can
do that, [and] it's going to save somebody's life,” he said.
Staley also spends a few hours a week as a scribe for A
Company, 405th Civil Affairs Battalion, which meets with
local Afghans who want to discuss grievances and request
humanitarian assistance. Staley said he believes that
volunteering is the right thing to do and that it's
contagious. Already, three noncommissioned officers from his
unit have started volunteering with him, he noted.
“That's my deal, to challenge NCOs and soldiers alike to
volunteer at something,” Staley said. “It makes the time go
by over here faster and it gives you a good feeling.”
Staley joined the active-duty Army in 1990 and became an
Oklahoma National Guardsman in 1994. In his civilian career,
he was a policeman in Seminole from 1995 to 2001 before he
went into the Active Guard Reserves. Staley enjoyed his job
in the Reserves but was discontented because circumstances
had separated him from his two children, who live in
Regensburg, Germany. So, last year he decided to take a
gamble and return to active duty in the hopes that he would
eventually end up in Germany.
It's beginning to look as if his gamble is going to pay off,
as his request for duty in Germany has been approved.
Staley said he looks forward to seeing his children when his
deployment ends in July. He plans to stay in the Army until
his 20-year mark and beyond, he said, because he loves it.
He also is nearing completion of his Bachelor of Science
degree in ethics and management.
“The man doesn't think about himself — ever,” said Army 2nd
Lt. Kevin Kirk, a direct signal support team officer in
charge in the 580th Signal Company. “He's a very funny guy;
he keeps things light around here. We're very lucky to have
him here.” |
Article and photo By Army Spc. Spencer Case
304th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Special to American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010 |
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