Soldiers receive Combat Action Badge

Nine Soldiers, deployed with the 834th Aviation Support Battalion (ASB), were awarded long awaited Combat Action Badges (CAB) in a ceremony Oct. 20, at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

By order of BG John Nunn, Assistant Adjutant General for New Jersey National Guard, these Soldiers were to be awarded the CAB for their service during their previous deployment in Iraq with B Company 434th Main Support Battalion in 2005.  At that time, they were responsible for running convoy missions, hauling supplies and vehicles, as well as providing convoy security.
 
LTC Eric Waage, 834th ASB Commander, presented the Soldiers the award.

“The Combat Action Badge is a non-skill badge, there is no school at which you can earn these,” LTC Waage said. “But like the skills badge, you still have to take a test.  These Soldiers have passed that test.”

Earning the Combat Action Badge were
SSG Phillip E. Cleveland of Brooklyn Park, MN;
SSG Rick D. Culver of Rochester, MN;
SSG Breeze K. Hennes of Rice, MN;
SSG Anna J. (A.J.) Kern – Cold Spring, MN;
SSG Jessica A. Opatz of Holdingford, MN;
SSG John E. Vavra of Paynesville, MN;
SSG James L. Zenk of Andover, MN;
SGT John L. Ludke of Crosby, MN;
SPC Nicholas J. Schwieters of Melrose, MN; and
PFC Adam J. Garrelts of Mallard, IA

After presenting the awards to the Soldiers, LTC Waage addressed those in attendance.

“I want to compliment these Soldiers on coming over for a second tour,” LTC Waage said. “It is a wonderful morning for the battalion to be able to award them, we are all extremely proud.”

According to Army Regulation 600-8-22, the CAB provides special recognition to Soldiers who personally engaged the enemy, or are engaged by the enemy during combat operations.
 
Because they were attached to a New Jersey unit, the Minnesota Soldiers waited almost three years to receive the award.

“We each knew that we deserved the award and we were waiting patiently for it all to happen,” said CAB recipient SSG Anna Kern, A Company, 834th ASB Operations, Noncommissioned Officer.  “We had people working on these awards the whole three years trying to help each of us receive the recognition that we deserved.”

SSG Rick Culver, A Co., 834th ASB Transportation Platoon Sergeant and CAB recipient, gave a glimpse of his previous deployment. “On a convoy I saw all these clumps of grass on the road. Sure enough there was an [Improvised Explosive Device],” SSG Culver said. “As we called it in, mortar rounds started to drop in around us. I wasn't scared, the adrenaline was just pumping through me, and I was doing what I was trained to do.”

By SPC Justin Adelmann
A Co. 834th ASB Unit Public Affairs Representative
20 Sep., 2008