Wilson spent the morning at Combat Outpost Shocker and then headed to the Zurbatiyah point-of-entry to see how U.S. Forces partner with the Iraqi border security forces along the Iraq-Iran border. After lunch with the troops, Wilson headed to FOB Delta to meet some more troops.
“It was outstanding; the warriors and leaders are great,” said Wilson. “They’re meeting the commander’s intent, General Odierno’s guidance of the security agreement, partnering by, through and with the Iraqi Security Forces. I am very pleased and honored to be associated with this great unit.”
Wilson wrote down almost every Soldier’s name that he met in his all-weather spiral notepad as well as any information that he will pass on to the MNF-I commander, General Ray Odierno. While talking with Soldiers and leaders he talked about professional education, standards and discipline and the Army Knowledge Online website.
Wilson said the one message he wanted to get out to all the Soldiers and leaders is that they cannot become complacent.
“Our warriors and leaders need to keep that same intensity from day one to day 259. What I see is after about the third or fourth month, we start seeing complacency; we let our guards down, we think we got it, we’re 10 foot tall, we’re bullet-proof, we don’t have to do the things that got us here, and the only thing I tell them is that if you do the basics of what leaders and Soldiers are supposed to do, you’ll come out of this fine,” said Wilson.
Wilson was already making plans with Command Sgt. Maj. Kelvin Hughes, 41st Fires Brigade’s senior enlisted advisor, for a return trip to visit more of the Soldiers at FOB Delta as Hughes was bringing Wilson to the airfield.
“God Bless this unit and the troopers and their families, the sacrifices they’ve made,” said Wilson.
“It’s just phenomenal what we see and it amazes me what our warriors and their families do and the sacrifices they make so I’m just honored and privileged to be the sergeant major of Multi-National Forces-Iraq.”
