News-Info-Alerts

Re: 82nd's NCO of the Year Served on MIA Recovery Team

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: July 24, 2003

"82nd honors 2 best soldiers

By Walton Walker Staff writer

Sgt. 1st Class Darwin Johnson and Spc. Andrew Poole may be years apart in job experience, but for an hour Monday, each was enjoying the best moment of his career.

The 82nd Airborne Division had a recognition ceremony at the Division Headquarters Patio to honor two of its finest. Johnson is the 2003 Noncommissioned Officer of the Year. Poole is the 82nd's 2003 Trooper of the Year.

As a battalion communications supervisor, Johnson is responsible for repairing equipment, working on tactical radio systems and other duties related to communication. Johnson also was inducted into the Audie Murphy Club, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments of Army noncommissioned officers.

Poole works with messaging systems and the 82nd's network administration, which includes managing e-mail accounts for the division.

"I never thought I would be here," Johnson said. "I just come to work every day, do what I have to do, and do it right. I'm proud and honored to be chosen."

To receive the award, soldiers must demonstrate an exceptional ability to meet the Army's physical and mental demands. The division tests soldiers' physical training, marksmanship and land navigational skills. Soldiers take a written exam about general military knowledge and appear before a board of sergeant majors, who quiz them about military protocol.

Poole said passing the board required focus under pressure.

"You try not to think about it," he said. "You just keep going."

Johnson said the marksmanship test was the most difficult. He said some paratroopers do not spend as much time at the target range as infantry soldiers. To prepare, Johnson said, he took every opportunity to practice shooting.

That meant more hours spent away from his wife, Latonja, and children, Dakarai, 5, and Keiona, 11.

"You've got to dedicate yourself to the cause," Johnson said. "If you want to win, you've got to make a lot of sacrifices. I compete to win."

There are 15,000 paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division.

About 150 people, most of them noncommissioned officers, attended Monday's ceremony.

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., the commander of the 82nd, challenged the soldiers in attendance to follow the examples set by Johnson and Poole.


"We have to set standards, and that's the goal of this 82nd Airborne Division," Swannack said. "Let's go ahead and ... accomplish those tasks to the standards of excellence. That's what these two people represent: excellence."

Both soldiers have a family history of military service.

Johnson's uncle, Sgt. Willie James Johnson Jr., served in the 82nd. Several of Johnson's cousins also served in the 82nd.

Poole's father served in the Air Force. His grandfather, Sgt. Maj. Ed Funanich, and uncle, Maj. Rick Funanich, served in the 82nd. Johnson said his family's service encouraged him to join the Junior ROTC as a high school freshman in Sandersville, Ga.

"I always knew that I would join the Army," Johnson said. "And I always wanted to be a paratrooper."

Johnson said he refused to enlist without the assurance that he could be a paratrooper.

In August 1989, Johnson began his career at Fort Bragg, serving as a radiotelephone operator with the 319th Airborne Field Artillery in the 1st Battalion. He has been overseas twice.

In 1996, he served on a POW/MIA research team in Vietnam, excavating sites that were believed to hold the remains of missing U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War.

"I enjoyed meeting new people," Johnson said. "The younger kids (in Vietnam) were somewhat hostile, but the older generation was pretty nice."

For eight months in 1999 and 2000, Johnson served with Joint Task Force BRAVO in Honduras, conducting counter-narcotics operations.

Poole, a native of Gastonia, enlisted as a record telecommunications operator maintainer in July 2001.

"It was a good way to prove that I could do things that people never thought I could," he said. "Some people never even thought I would make it out of basic."

Poole said all U.S. citizens have an obligation to serve their country in some way.

"I don't think people should be able to sit back and complain about the way our country is if they've never done anything to help try to change it," he said.

For Poole, winning Trooper of the Year accomplishes a two-year mission.

"It was one of the goals I set for myself when I joined the Army," he said.

©2003 The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer"