Why I serve: 'I feel that sense of pride'

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Katzenberger | Staff Sgt. Bara Seck, an internal control analyst assigned to the Kaiserslautern, Germany, based 266th Finance Support Center, leads a training session on international money laundering at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Oct. 16, 2021. The 266th FISC was selected to pilot the introduction of counter threat finance techniques into the Army’s conventional forces. Soldiers assigned to the 266th FISC create financial profiles, perform suspicious activity report reviews, conduct commodity flow analyses and execute financial document exploitation—tasks that provide commanders with a greater understanding of the financial underpinnings of adversarial groups.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

11.15.2021

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Mary Katzenberger 

3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — Staff Sgt. Bara Seck is exactly where he wants to be.

“Me wearing the uniform right now, I can’t complain because every time I wake up I look at myself [in the mirror] and I feel that sense of pride,” said the financial management technician.

Seck, 40, is currently assigned to the Kaiserslautern, Germany, based 266th Finance Support Center and is serving here in support of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command. 1st TSC manages all sustainment operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

The staff sergeant works as an internal control analyst, inspecting Army systems and programs to ensure that they are in fiscal compliance with all regulations, policies, and written directives.

Seck’s work on the deployment has taken him from Kuwait, to Iraq, and most recently, to Egypt. The Soldier took a few moments away from his travels to talk about why he serves.

Following his own passion

Seck said he was prepared for the military lifestyle before he ever enlisted.

“I grew up speaking a lot of different languages, seeing a lot of different cities, and a lot of different towns,” the staff sergeant said. “It was really easy for me to adapt to different environments.”

The Soldier hails from Clarksville, Tennessee, but is originally from the country of Senegal in West Africa. The Soldier spent the early years of his life traveling internationally with his father, Marius, who worked with the United Nations before ultimately settling in the United States.

Marius had struck out on a new career path as a computer programmer, and Seck said his father hoped he would follow his example.

Seck said he had different plans for his life, however. He had always dreamed of working in the aviation field and wanted to enlist in the Air Force after he graduated from high school.

“I had a recruiter that used to walk me all the way to my building—he used to stay in the stairs, he knew my schedule—and my father used to chase them away,” the staff sergeant said, laughing. “[My father] really wanted me to focus and kind of follow in his footsteps.”

Seck did try his hand at programming, but stopped at earning his associate’s degree. He worked in a variety of fields before he took the plunge in his late 20s and spoke to an Army recruiter.

“You just have to let somebody follow their own passion, because once you like what you do, you’re going to excel and you’re going to succeed in it,” the staff sergeant said.

Seck waited a year for the aviation mechanic fields to open up for enlistment, but grew impatient. He sought council from some senior noncommissioned officers, and from two of his cousins who were serving on active duty then and are still serving today. They opened his mind to choosing a different path in the Army.

Seck enlisted in May of 2011 as a financial management technician, and has not looked back since.

“I was a little older, I was 29 when I enlisted,” the staff sergeant said. “It was kind of late, but I was still physically fit so no problem, because the Army is a physical business.”

Once Seck graduated from advanced individual training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he moved to his first duty station at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Since Kentucky, the staff sergeant has been stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and is now stationed in Germany. He said he has come to love his career field over his decade of service.

“What I really enjoy is the technical expertise that you get from it,” Seck said. “We’re not just working military pay … we do accounting, we do budget, we do internal control—which is the section I’m working on right now—so you’re constantly learning, it just never stops.”

And, Seck said he has enjoyed the travel opportunities the Army has afforded him, despite the fact that he finds it difficult being away from his wife, Michille, his son, Abdul, 6, and his daughter, Fatima, 3.

“Deployments have been his biggest challenge,” Seck said. “The first time leaving my wife and my son—my daughter wasn’t born yet—dealing with that, I really had to be resilient for nine months not seeing them.

“I always keep faith,” the staff sergeant continued. “It was a mission that had to be done and I signed up for it, so that was my responsibility.”

Seck is looking forward to continuing his Army career in the finance field, but he has not forgotten his childhood dream of working in the aviation field; last year he enrolled in private pilot lessons and flew for his first time.

“When you fly your mind is free,” the staff sergeant said. “You don’t think about no problems, no stresses, it’s just peaceful, and that’s one thing that keeps me driving.”

• Date Taken: 11.15.2021
• Date Posted: 11.15.2021 05:14
• Story ID: 409293
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW