Bronze Star Recipient
Alan Kozlowski |
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Just
before
the end
of his
deployment
to Salah
ad-Din
province
in Iraq,
U.S.
Army
Reservist
Major
Alan
Kozlowski
had the
pleasure
of
completing
a
project
he and
his team
had been
working
on for
months:
A
shipment
of over
100
wheelchairs
arrived
in
Tikrit
and were
distributed
to
medical
facilities
around
the
city.
The
wheelchairs,
intended
for
general
civilian
use, had
been
difficult
to come
by,
Kozlowski
said.
And it
was
harder
still to
get them
delivered
to
Tikrit.
“You
can't
just go
online
and
order
these
things,”
he said.
“It took
us about
three
months
from
inception
to final
delivery.
There
was a
lot of
coordinating.”
Working
with
non-commissioned
officers
(NCOs)
in
Baghdad,
Kozlowski
and his
team
coordinated
the
procurement
and
delivery
of the
much
needed
wheelchairs.
“It was
a great
project
for us
to
pursue,”
he said.
“Just as
we were
leaving,
100
wheelchairs
showed
up.” As
commander
of a
Civil
Affairs
unit
during
the
2007-2008
deployment,
Kozlowski
led
missions
like
this all
the
time.
Civil
Affairs
teams,
Kozlowski
said,
“are the
folks
who help
the
local
population
during a
time of
war...
providing
essential
services
once
things
have
been
destroyed.”
He
described
the work
they did
as “very
multifaceted”.
Soldiers
on Civil
Affairs
teams
must
learn
about
the
local
culture
and
people
so they
can
effectively
partner
with
them on
the
reconstruction
projects
they
lead, he
said.
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“That is
the
rewarding
part of
helping
these
folks
out,” he
said.
“They're
stuck in
the
middle.
We work
to give
them
some
relief.”
Rebuilding
sewer
lines
and
medical
facilities
were two
of the
major
projects
Kozlowski
focused
on
during
the
deployment.
“What
the army
and the
entire
military
[are]
doing
now is
trying
to go to
a full
spectrum
operations
structure
of
warfare.
Not only
do you
have
offense
and
defense
but you
also
have
stability
operations.
That's a
big part
of Civil
Affairs,”
he said.
Kozlowski's
company
of 32
soldiers
was
spread
throughout
the
province,
with
teams of
four or
five
soldiers
based in
the
cities
of
Tikrit,
Balad,
Bayji,
and
Samarra.
He
credits
his
first
sergeant,
Command
Sergeant
Major
Ray
Pockett
for
helping
him
“build a
cohesive
unit
that
could
work
together,”
he said.
Kozlowski
was
awarded
a Bronze
Star for
his work
during
that
deployment,
both
leading
his unit
and
executing
so many
successful
Civil
Affairs
projects,
according
to the
award
citation
for the
medal.
While he
was
proud of
the
“creativity
and
foresight”
he and
his unit
used to
do their
jobs, he
said he
was
humbled
when he
found
out he
was
going to
get a
Bronze
Star.
“I
honestly
thought
that I
was just
doing my
job,” he
said.
Rather,
Kozlowski
named
two men
he had
looked
up to:
Pockett
and
General
David
Petreaus.
Of
Pockett
he said,
“I
respect
him as a
great
NCO and
a great
leader.
He
inspired
me to
look at
the
human
element
of
organizations
and make
sure
that
people
are
taken
care
of.”
“As
Civil
Affairs
we do it
for the
folks
being
effected
out in
Iraq and
Afghanistan.
But
someone
needs to
do it
for the
people
in the
organization,”
he said.
“I
admire [Pockett]
and
still
talk to
him.”
Kozlowski
also
looks up
to
Petreaus
“as a
great
leader
who
recognized
that
there is
more to
war than
being on
the
offense
or being
on the
defense,”
he said.
“He
understands
the
entire
concept
to
include
the
human
element...I
truly
admire
Gen.
Petreaus.” |
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Information
and Photo and information courtesy of US
Army /
Dept. of Defense |
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