SERVICE

By Capt. Murray Shugars
2nd Battalion, 198th Combined Arms

CONTINGENCY OPERATING LOCATION Q-WEST, Iraq — A Mississippi Army National Guard Soldier received a Command Sergeant Major’s Award during a ceremony at Contingency Operating Location Q-West, Feb. 15.

Sgt. Victoria M. Moffett, a convoy security truck commander from Collins, serving with A Company, 106th Brigade Support Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team, out of Magee, 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, was acknowledged for embodying the Army value of selfless service.

To honor outstanding service at the end of the deployment, the senior noncommissioned officers of the battalion recognized seven Soldiers from throughout the battalion who embody one of the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, service, honor, integrity and personal courage, said Command Sgt. Maj. Perry Campbell.  

“This is an NCO-driven effort to honor Soldiers who stood out during the deployment,” said Campbell, a native of Senatobia. “The NCOs wanted to remind every Soldier in the Battalion that outstanding service is not always the result of a single act. It is the everyday practice of upholding the Army values.”

1st Sgt. Troy D. Scott said Moffett was one of his most dependable Soldiers.

“Sergeant Moffett is always Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to getting things done in the company,” said Scott, a native of Pearl. “She is an example of the best kind of Soldier. If I had company of Soldiers like her, I would have to come to work. She is tactically and technically proficient and has been an extremely positive influence on the entire company. Serving as a gun truck commander, she has performed beyond expectations throughout the deployment. I’m proud to say she’s one of mine.”

Moffett’s platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Kenley E. Feazell, said she is always willing to do what it takes to accomplish the mission.

“We go out on convoys, and we have a link-up time for pre-mission checks and inspections in the motor pool,” said Feazell, of New Hebron. “She shows up an hour earlier to start her preparation. She does a lot of work that I’m responsible for and makes my job a lot easier. Even around the company area, she does things that need doing, without being told. When she’s around, nothing falls through the cracks.”

Staff Sgt. Charles W. Winn, Moffett’s squad leader, said much the same thing.

“If sergeant Moffett is asked to do any kind of task, she always does it,” said Winn, a Magee, native. “If she doesn’t know something, she finds out, but she would never use not knowing something as an excuse to get out of accomplishing a task. More than that she shares her knowledge throughout the company and with other units she works with. For instance, our platoon was escorting a convoy with Soldiers from a transportation company outside our battalion, and some of them didn’t know how to program their radios. Sgt. Moffett went to every one of their vehicles and helped. She didn’t do it for them. She showed them how to do it.”

Moffett said she was honored by the recognition.

“My performance is in me,” said Moffett. “I always want to do the best I can, and being recognized for it, knowing other people are watching and noticing, is very gratifying. There are a lot of Soldiers the senior NCOs could have chosen besides me. Just to being doing the job we do over here, you’ve got to have some amount of selfless service.”

The key to selfless service is leading from the front, said Moffett.

“My first sergeant might tell me to lead a work detail to clean up the motor pool, and I’ll be out there with them,” said Moffett. “If I’m going to task a duty to my Soldiers, I’m going to be there, too. I won’t ask someone to do what I wouldn’t do.”