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 Texas Guard member taking care of Soldiers in Iraq By Army Sgt. David Bryant
                36th Infantry Division
 BASRAH, Iraq - These words of wisdom from a former drill sergeant are well known by any member  of B Company, 36th Division Special Troops Battalion, who has stood in a  company formation from the beginning of the unit’s deployment to Iraq for  Operation New Dawn. The only change now for the company’s readiness noncommissioned officer, from  his days as a drill sergeant at Fort Benning, Ga., in the early 1990s, is that  he’s even busier. “I’m up by around 5 a.m. and out giving my Soldiers (physical training) tests  by 6 a.m.,” said Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Leon. “From there I’m off to the company  to make sure everyone is at their appointed place of duty and take care of  company business.” By “everyone,” the native of Newark, N.J., means all soldiers assigned to the  battalion’s largest company – including civilian contractors and all Sailors, Airmen  and Marines attached to the division – primarily for the personnel status report,  but also for accountability. The division headquarters, located  at Contingency Operating Base Basra, is in charge of all U.S. military operations  in the nine provinces of southern Iraq. Leon wears several hats: readiness NCO, Life Support Area Dripping Springs  manager, Staff Annex manager, contracting officer representative for  non-tactical vehicle maintenance, liaison officer for the Oasis Bazaar, and for  now, the acting first sergeant for the company while his boss is on rest and  recuperation leave. “The rest of my mornings are split between these places. I try to trade off  days to make sure none of my areas of responsibility are neglected,” Leon said.  “I also have two linguists assigned to me for the Oasis; they help me process  potential foreign nationals who will be working at the Oasis for badges, do  their biometrics, take care of background checks and pick up new employees from  the airport.” From there, it’s right back to taking care of Soldiers. “There are NCOs out there who are more interested in their careers and how  their [NCO evaluation reports] look,” said Army Staff Sgt. Jessica I. Figura, B  Company administrative NCO. “He’s one who actually cares for every Soldier who  works for him. He’ll fight for us.” Leon is in and out of the office throughout the day taking care of his many  tasks, said Figura. “But he’s really good with following up with us. He’s  extremely busy, but he’s never so busy he puts us on the back-burner; he always  has time for us.” It’s easy to see why Soldiers are Leon’s priority by looking at his background.  He originally served 13 years in the Army on active duty, but had to get out  during the downsizing in the 1990s. For the next nine years he worked  overseas as a civilian contractor for the military serving in Saudi Arabia from  1999 to 2001 and Kuwait in 2002 to 2004 to train Soldiers preparing for  Operation Iraqi Freedom. From there he worked with the Soldiers in Iraq until  2006. He left active duty from Fort Hood, Texas, where he met his wife, a native of  Killeen, Texas. Leon still lives in Killeen, where he maintained his residence  while working overseas. It was as his daughter prepared to go to high school  that he decided to finish out his career as a Soldier. “She said she wanted me to stay home instead of going overseas all the time,”  Leon said. “I saw a sign saying the Guard was taking prior military, so here I  am. She graduates in June, so I’m taking my R&R to be there for her.” Serving as an active Guard and Reserve Soldier has given Leon more than 18  years of total active military service. While he may be overseas again, this  time he will be gone for a much shorter period of time, he said. Afternoons are just as busy for Leon as mornings are. By 1 p.m. he’s usually  over at the Oasis Bazaar making sure all is well with the vendors there, after  which he heads over to B & B Service, which stands for al-Bahar and  Bardawil, the company in charge of maintaining and fixing all non-tactical  vehicles for the U.S., British and Iraqi personnel living and working on COB  Basra. Then it’s time to put on PT clothes and go assist with remedial physical  training, a program designed to increase Soldiers’ physical health and PT test  scores. “Leon is all about putting his Soldiers first; right now he’s out there doing  remedial PT with them, and he’s been out there doing it with them since day  one,” said Army 1st Lt. Crystal M. Warren, B Company executive officer. “It’s a  good example of his leadership skills.” A quick cleanup after PT and Leon is back to company business, going back and  forth to the Division Main Operating Center and other areas to help take care  of his Soldiers’ issues. He also uses the time to process work orders for the  areas he manages and follows up to make sure the job is done properly. “I’m usually done around 7 p.m.,” Leon said. “The commander and I are usually  the last ones at the company, and we talk about what has gone on during the day  and what will be coming up next.” “I think his background is what pushes him to keep everything moving forward,”  said Warren. “He’s a very hard working individual, and he puts pride and  dedication into everything he does. NCOs lead the way – and Sgt. 1st Class Leon  is in the front.”
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