Photo By Master Sgt. Kap Kim | FORWARD OPERATING BASE PROSPERITY, Iraq – Capt. Letisha Wayne (left) and 1st Sgt....... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Kap Kim
2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE PROSPERITY, Iraq – Although the retention section of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division has been reenlisting Soldiers since its arrival to Kuwait last month, Nov. 15 was something special.
First Sgt. Kahrim Singleton, the top noncommissioned officer of Company A, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, reenlisted in front of a small formation on the palace's third-floor balcony overlooking the Baghdad skyline, becoming the first Soldier in the Black Jack Brigade to reenlist in Iraq.
Uncharacteristic of the usually outspoken first sergeant, Singleton's only words for his final reenlistment were for his Soldiers to "focus on the mission and get these young Soldiers reenlisted."
A son of New Orleans, Singleton's story reads like a TV movie-of-the-week script; overcoming many different obstacles to get where he is today.
Soldiers throughout the 2nd BSTB who know him or know of him call him a "fast-tracker," a term used to describe individuals who seem to dismiss the Army's average time for promotion.
"I've been very lucky," said Singleton of his career as a Soldier. "I'm educated, and I just want to lead Soldiers."
Yet, throughout his life, luck wasn't something the civilian world issued to him as much as he claims it has as a Soldier.
After three years of attending Louisiana's Southern University, he worked in the private sector as a social worker, but when the agency he worked at went under, he decided to walk into a recruiting station to fulfill a lifelong desire.
"I worked eight years as a social worker. The program went belly up, and I really didn't find it rewarding," he said. "I was looking for a change."
Singleton enlisted in February 1996; that's right, 1996.
During the enlistment process, he decided to take the Infantry recruit with Airborne Ranger option at 29 years old – an option typically taken by much younger enlistees.
Being the oldest of four brothers and growing up as a scholastic athlete, he said he was always a mentor to others, but it was the first day of basic training when he started growing into the leader he would eventually become.
"I was the platoon guide from start to finish," he said. "I just like being in charge. I always strived to be in charge."
As a leader, his Soldiers describe him to be that type of leader who is the first one to work and the last to leave it. They say he has that "fatherly" quality that shows he cares. Still, he said that he catches some of his Soldiers doing impressions of his walk or the way he speaks to them.
"I can hear them doing my 'come here son,'" he said laughing. "I take it as a form of flattery – if they do the imitation well. I figure if you can imitate me, then at least you are listening."
As a leader of Soldiers, Singleton follows a basic rule: not asking his Soldiers to do anything he hasn't done before or is not willing to do now.
"How am I going to lead these Soldiers from the rear?" he asked. "They have access to me 24 hours a day. If they are in trouble, all they have to do is call, and I'm coming. It's all about my Soldiers. I can get by on my own, but the Soldiers, they need me."
According to Lt. Col. Kenneth Crawford, the 2nd BSTB commander, Singleton is the kind of leader who absolutely "leads from the front."
"To the Soldiers, he is giving them an example to emulate in a tough mission," he boasted of Singleton. "He truly is a Soldier's Soldier."
For Singleton, the goals he has for himself mirror the ones he has for his company: being the best.
"I always was the Soldier who wanted to be the best," he said. "Now, I want the best company – I've got to have the best. I'll push them (Soldiers) to be the best they can be."
He said he doesn't know where his longing to be the best or have the best comes from, but that he can only blame his pride or ego.
"If you give me a job, I'm going to get it done – done right – done first; there's no grey area," he said sternly. "Even though I have a small company, we have done so much."
In 1996 when Singleton first enlisted, his plan was to do his contractual four years and go back to his civilian life, but during his life as a Soldier, he realized that being in the Army fulfilled his personal needs.
"I'm the kind of person who needs structure," he admitted. "I also need to feel needed."
There was a darker period in his career though – a time when he didn't feel so needed.
After an airborne jump left him with a torn ligament in his knee and a damaged meniscus, he went under the knife and spent six months recovering from the surgery. He was subsequently given doctor's orders to never run again. Yet, Singleton ignored it and continued to run, even with screws in his leg. Two years after his surgery, he never fully recovered. He went to the hospital to find out what was going on, and the news he received hit him hard.
"I started crying," he said. "You don't go to sick call to be told you can't stay in the Army. I wasn't ready to go."
Despite directives, he stubbornly insisted to have the permanent, non-running profile taken off his records.
"I went to the [medical] board and told them to take the P-3 profile off," he said. "They offered me a P-2 profile, then I said 'no' to that too. I can't lead from the rear. I gotta make this body last because I still have a long time to go. So, I run everyday."
His determination lifted the profile and sent him into another career path. Yet, success was still never changed from his to-do list. There was one thing he had to do though: he had to change his job from an infantryman to an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle pilot.
In changing jobs, he started catching up with his peers, at least the peers who were around the same age. Singleton said he reached a point where he had to be happy. His competitive nature was met with a draw when he realized that as soon as he started catching up to his peers, they started retiring.
And just when everything seemed like it was going well, Hurricane Katrina took everything from his family back in New Orleans. He brought his mother to the Fort Hood, Texas area and put her up in an apartment. He has also helped his brothers out.
"It was tough on us," he said.
It was during that time that Singleton took the first sergeant seat with Co. A, 2nd BSTB and said he has thoroughly enjoyed it.
For what was originally supposed to only be a four-year hitch, he said making a choice to stay in the Army has made him "complete."
"It makes me feel complete. I didn't like having an ETS (expiration time-in-service). Now, with this out of the way, I can concentrate totally on the mission and Soldiers," he said about reenlisting. "I'm real happy. I'll be 49 when I retire. I'll be ready to get Social Security."
As for what's next, Singleton said he wants to stay Cav.
"As long as DA (Department of the Army) lets me stay, I'll be with the Cav.," he said. "I'll be here. I kinda like my Stetson."
| Date Taken: | 11.20.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 11.22.2006 08:29 |
| Story ID: | 8358 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 440 |
| Downloads: | 143 |
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