Courtesy Photo | Lt. Col. Phil Appleton (left), commander of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment,...... read more read more
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – There are moments that define our lives and determine our fate. Small decisions plugged into a specific window of time often go unnoticed but exude the kind of influence that can only be measured much later, with the manufactured hindsight generated from solemn reflection.
Staff Sgt. Tony Cox, a convoy escort team commander with Foxtrot Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, and a Redmond, Ore., native, can relate to the magnitude of small decisions.
A series of small, seemingly unrelated, decisions probably saved his life and the lives of his crew on an Iraqi highway in January, when their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle made contact with an improvised explosive device.
Cox received a Purple Heart Medal at a ceremony at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in May for injuries suffered during the incident.
Cox said the IED attack was unexpected, but the reaction of his crew - Pfc. Chris Soderholm, a driver, and Spc. Maxmillian Miller, a gunner - both of F Co., proved to be decisive.
Yet it is what occurred moments before the blast that probably saved the crew from serious injury.
“Sometimes you don’t know small decisions will be that important,” Cox said.
Just moments before the IED was triggered, Cox’ instincts went into overdrive.
He said he suddenly became even more vigilant as his MRAP moved slowly down the road. That is when he made a quick, small decision. He ordered his driver to speed up slightly.
“I don’t know why I did that,” he said. “And it is not a normal decision I’d make. The MRAP gained speed and moments later the IED exploded.
“They were probably watching us. [The speeding up] threw them off,” Cox said.
For several days after the explosion, Cox, who already served one tour of duty in Afghanistan, said he did not put a lot of thought into the IED strike. He was busy ensuring Soderholm and Miller were all right, and he was still trying to get his own bearings. Only later did he start his own, mental after-action review and realized a single, small judgment on his part probably averted a potential tragedy. Speeding up the MRAP may have meant the difference between life and death.
“Small decisions are the ones that mean more than big ones,” Cox said.
However, he is fairly certain there was something else going on that night, just before the IED hit, he said.
“Someone was watching over me,” he said.
When he first realized he was going to be awarded a Purple Heart Medal for the January IED strike he was surprised.
Cox said the medal, for him, is more of a representation of the sacrifice of all the soldiers in his convoy escort team make on every convoy. The mission would be more difficult to accomplish without their dedication and hard work.
As his tour enters into its final phase, Cox said his family has been one of the cornerstones of his success.
“I miss my family,” he said. “My family is always on my mind.”
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.03.2011 01:17 |
| Story ID: | 73164 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 497 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Small decisions prove crucial for Cavalry non-commissioned officer, by SSG Patrick Caldwell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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