Photo By Col. Michael Indovina | Spc. George Ellis, 39, signal support systems specialist, 18th Military Police...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger
18th Military Police Brigade Public Affairs Office
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – Working as a plumber in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., just wasn't providing enough money and benefits to provide for five children.
One night in their Florida home, he was asked by his now 18-year-old son if he would be able to support him going to college. It was at that point that he realized with the job he had as a plumber that he would not have the ability to support his son's college dreams.
George Ellis Jr., a native of Miami, Fla., discussed the situation with his wife of 15 years, Kathleen, about what they should do. While trying to find a new job to better support his family, he ran into a close friend who told him of the benefits the Army had to offer him and his family.
"I joined the Army for my – specifically for my oldest boy, so he could go to college," said Spc. George Ellis, a signal support systems specialist with Muli-National Division – Baghdad's 18th Military Police Brigade, which is deployed from Mannheim, Germany.
A father of four boys and one girl, he joined the Army at the age of 37, he said, reflecting on the benefits and opportunities the Army had to offer.
"Just being in the Army, my son now has a better opportunity and more chances to go to college," said Ellis. "I have more chances of getting a loan, and he has more chances to be looked at by other schools."
Ellis said his son has worked hard to get into college ad has excelled in school so he appreciates the opportunities his Army career provides him in helping his son realize his scholastic endeavors.
"My son, Chris, made this happen," said Ellis, of his son, who is now 18. "He gets great grades, and he is the president of several distinguished organizations in his high school, including the National Honor Society. Basically, he has done the leg work and now I'm going to do whatever I can to take care of him."
Ellis, himself, is no stranger to 'leg work,' being a communications specialist for the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 18th MP Bde., which is deployed in the Iraqi capital on a 15-month deployment.
Every morning while deployed, he wakes up at about 5 a.m. and conducts physical training with a battle buddy, who he says is a young total-fitness machine.
"He keeps me in shape," said Ellis of his fellow communications specialist. Now at 39, Ellis said it wasn't easy getting used to the Army way of life when he joined two years ago.
"After doing physical training in the morning, my body would be all sore," said Ellis. "But once my body got used to it and started to adapt, things got better. It was just like any other job. Once you learn your job, you get used to it."
Ellis went on to say that as he closes in on the age of 40, it becomes a little bit harder and it is something that his body and mind just have to get motivated for.
Ellis finds that motivation not only within himself but also when he thinks of his family.
"Sometimes I'm tired and my motivation gets low, but I just do what my son told me to do, and that is drink water and drive on," said Ellis, smiling as he recalled his son's encouragement.
After his morning physical training, he heads to eat and conduct personnel hygiene before heading off to work. The work day starts with the communications team assessing the personal security team's trucks to make sure the communication systems are working properly.
He takes this part of his job extremely seriously because, as he said, reliable communications are important because if the 'comms' go down, lives are now at risk.
"Communication within vehicles is 100 percent important," said Ellis. "Those guys role out every day, and if there communication systems aren't working and something happens, that can be a bad-bad thing. It is really important to me to make sure those guys are good to go."
After the tactical vehicles check out and the security teams are ready to go, the communications team conducts daily computer maintenance.
"We do a lot of computer work," said Ellis. "If someone is having trouble with their computer, we fix their problems."
The communications section is a huge part in the overall mission success of the brigade.
"Communication is pretty much a big part of how people in the brigade operate," said Ellis. "People get on their computers and check their emails. It is how 90 percent of them do their work. It's how work gets done in my opinion.
"Without communication technicians, we would have to send up smoke signals to communicate."
The work day normally ends at 5 p.m. for the communications team; however, Iraq can be very unpredictable and sometimes mission requirements have them work long into the night.
"If missions are going on or things happen, our work day could be extended. It is really just one of those things that are up in the air," said Ellis. "If there is something that really needs to be done, the team comes together and we do our job."
Ellis said he believes his team's success comes through the cohesion he and his fellow communications Soldiers have together.
"The communications team is a close-knit team," said Ellis. "We work together, side by side, on a daily basis, and we look after each other."
As to whether the job can be stressful at times, he just grinned and said he does not have any stresses.
"I'm here for a reason," said Ellis. "I'm here to do my part for my country, but mostly I'm here for my family – that is my main goal. I will not let anything deter me, depress me or get in the way of me taking care of my. That's it plain and simple!
"My family is the backbone and I am going to do whatever it takes to make them happy, so I can't be stressed because if I'm stressed then my wife is stressed, which makes my kids stressed. So it doesn't happen that way."
After he is released from work for the day, he spends time with his friends, playing a game of Texas Hold'em, working out at the gym or talking to his family via the internet or phone.
"I talk to my family pretty much on a daily basis," said Ellis. "Thanks to the internet and phone services, I make it a goal to call them or message them on a daily basis so they know that everything is okay."
Aside from his normal day's work, since deploying last September, Ellis has found himself on several lengthy projects to help with the 18th MP Bde.'s Police Transition Team mission.
He was part of a special project that landed him at the the Furat Iraqi Police Training Facility, which opened Feb. 9, 2008, in Baghdad, to help train a goal of more than 12,000 IP to provide rule of law to its Iraqi citizens. His part was to assist in installing electricity and lighting at the facility.
Over and above helping the police expansion mission of the brigade, he also helped establish automations requirements for the brigade headquarters on Camp Victory upon deploying and then reestablished automations requirements when the brigade moved to Camp Liberty.
His leaders said they believe his hard work and family ethics, as well as his experience, is what will make him a great leader as he prepares for a future promotion.
"He has a lot of life experience to share with Soldiers," said Sgt. Joshua Klassen, one of the team leaders in the communications section Ellis is part of. "He has worked several civilian jobs where he worked as a crew leader and that definitely shows with his leadership abilities performing his job in the Army."
Despite being a good deal older than most of his peers he works with, Ellis is still full of motivation and is mission-focus driven.
"He is the hardest working 'old man' I've ever met," said Master Sgt. Jimmy Kilgore, the communications section non-commissioned officer in charge, with a smile. "Ellis is full of energy, focused on the mission and is a great man."
He potential leadership abilities were seen just recently as he has became promotable in his field and is now preparing to become a future sergeant.
"I'm trying really hard to get those stripes," said Ellis, referring to the sergeant rank insignia. "Not only would it help my career in being a leader, it will help my family. The new rank and extra money will help support them and that just means another bill gets paid."
Recently, Ellis returned from relief and recuperation leave, and upon returning, he decided he will reenlist to stay in the Army.
"On 'R and R', I sat down with my wife, children and parents and we weighed out the goods things and the bad things, and I decided that I'm going to go ahead and stay in the Army," said Ellis. "I'm going to reenlist because my wife and my family feel safer.
"They feel like they are going to be okay, and I will make whatever sacrifices I need to make to be sure that they feel that way. If my being in the Army is going to make them feel that way, then I'm staying in."
Ellis said he believes the reason he is getting promoted, and that he has been so successful thus far in his military career, is because of his communications teammates, leaders and his family back home.
"My signal teammates are why I am so successful, but my success also comes from my family, whom my motivation relies on them and them alone."
With his tour in Iraq coming to an end in the upcoming months, he said he feels the reason he was able to make it through the deployment was because of the people he worked with, his family and the support of his loved ones back home.
"First of all, I think about my wife, Kathleen, and my kids: Chris, Tobias, Cara, Brandon and Harley. I think about them depending on me and them knowing that I am over here. Secondly, I think about the good people I work with: my roommate, my shop and everyone here helped me, and lastly, I think about all the support I get from my parents back home about me being here. Without them, this tour would have been much more difficult," said Ellis.
Ellis is pleased to be serving his country and is happy that his family is provided for by the Army.
"I started serving in the Army so my son had a better opportunity to go to college," said Ellis, "But now, me being in the Army has given me a sense of pride for my country and a sense that I am accomplishing something greater then myself."
"I just hope I'm doing the best I can for the Army," said Ellis, "and I hope there are people that realize a lot of us are making whole lot of sacrifices to make sure everything is okay. I hope they appreciate because I know my family appreciates what I do."
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2008 01:45 |
| Story ID: | 22648 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 291 |
| Downloads: | 269 |
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