Photo By Crista Mary Mack | JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Virginia - U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Derek Milne poses with...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Virginia - What do tennis, U.S. Army Aviation mechanics, and the Micronesian Islands’ version of Olympics have to do with one another? U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Derek Milne is the answer. Milne, a helicopter maintenance instructor from C. Co., 2nd Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment, 128th Aviation Brigade, traveled across the Pacific to represent the Republic of the Marshall Islands in tennis recently at the Micronesian Games, June 2024.
“I grew up playing tennis in the Marshall Islands, and played with my Dad and my brothers,” said Milne, who was born in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands. “We all started playing tennis at my grandfather’s; my grandfather had a tennis court in the back yard and we would watch the grown-ups play when we were young. Tennis is a lifetime sport, you can play at a young age and an old age.”
The MicroGames feature 10 island nations and 14 sports, including basketball, volleyball, wrestling, beach volleyball, swimming, spearfishing, table tennis, and tennis among them. Over 1,000 athletes from other islands together with over 200 from the Marshall Islands competed in 13 sporting events over the course of 10 days. The games are held every other year, in different locations. This year is the first time the Marshall Islands has hosted since the game started in the 1960s, and this year the location was Milne’s home island of Majuro. Milne competed in both singles and doubles in tennis, and his partner in doubles was his younger brother First Sgt. David Milne, also an Active Duty Soldier, with Alpha Company, 142nd Division Sustainment Support Battalion, Fort Bliss, TX.
“Both of my brothers are Army, one is still in as a first sergeant, a 91D (tactical power generation specialist),” Milne said. “My oldest brother joined right after September 11 in 2001, and he was also in aviation a 15F, an electrician for the UH-60 Blackhawk and the CH-47 Chinook.”
Milne was planning a career in law enforcement in 2010 when his brothers both challenged him to be all he could be. The brothers, competitive on the tennis courts as children, extended a similar spirit to challenging one another to join the Army.
“My brothers didn’t think I could make it through basic training or AIT so I said, is that a challenge? We’ve always been competitive growing up and I thought, if you’re going to do it I can do it too,” Milne reminisced. “I spent my 30th birthday in Basic Training… next thing I know, it’s 14 years later.”
Today, Milne is one of 10 aviation mechanic instructors for the propulsion (engine) section.
“His work ethic is unparalleled and unmatched by those he calls peers, if anything it’s only matched by his passion for sport,” said Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Cabrera, AC power plant repairer-instructor who instructs with Milne. “He’s a really dedicated and involved father in his children’s sports and he himself competes as often as he can. He works hard and definitely plays hard and finds the time and makes the time to pursue the passions he does enjoy, the profession of arms and being a sportsman.”
When not teaching aircraft mechanics for the UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache, Milne encourages his own daughters, ages 12 and 16, in athletics. “My youngest plays volleyball, and oldest daughter plays tennis at Woodside High School in Newport News,” he said.
Milne’s leadership also speaks of his ethic both on and off the court and the classroom, as connected.
“He embodies that warrior spirit, that attitude. He is a fire and forget NCO, meaning, I know whatever it is, it’s going to be done right, so I leave it to him, I don’t have to think about it twice, and he carries that attitude into how he plays tennis,” said Capt Andrew Lightsey the IV, Company Commander, C. Co., 2nd Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment. “It’s been great getting to see him use that competitive edge to help us every day, his tenacity in how he gets after teaching students, the care he has for all the missions in his life. He’s inspiring the students to be great maintainers as well.”
First Sergeant Joshua Gordon, C. Co., 2nd Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment, expressed similar sentiments about Milne.
“It takes a lot of mental strength for instructors to balance their work responsibilities and expectations along with their personal goals and family life,” Gordon said. “For Staff Sergeant Milne to be able to get out there and perform at professional level events speaks a lot on his character.”
Third time participating, first time in his hometown.
The Milne family last visited Majuro in 2018, in between permanent change of station from Korea to Hawaii. Previously he played the MicroGames in 2006, winning a bronze medal, and in 2002, winning a silver medal in tennis. “It’s 18 years later, and I play for health and fitness, keeping up with the tennis, inspiring my kids,” Milne said. “Maybe one day they can play for my island or their mother’s island of Kosrae.”
Lightsey shared the perspective that just like with his children, Milne inspires his coworkers and students, and therefore personifies the greatness found in formations every day.
“The Army supports the athlete, not just for Warrior Games, world class warrior initiatives, but that mindset of ‘Team Army’ is extended to all Soldiers in all formations, that we are all athletes,” said Lightsey. “You have to be fit and functionally fit mentally to do the job of being a Soldier, and Staff Sergeant Milne embodies that for us, competing at a high level. For us [his unit] he is an example for Soldiers in showing that you can be great beyond your day to day job.”
For more about the 2024 MicroGames, visit https://www.majol2024.com/ For more about Army aviation careers, visit https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/aviation
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| Date Taken: | 08.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2024 15:53 |
| Story ID: | 478019 |
| Location: | MAJURO, FM |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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