By himself, but not truly alone
Posted on: Wednesday, November 07, 2007

By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD – Staff Sgt. John Crawford refused to go to Iraq unless he got his own 747 cargo plane, so officials got him one, joked Maj. Gen. Jeffery W. Hammond, the 4th Infantry Division's commander.

The sergeant had just one reply: "Are the seats leather, sir?"

Crawford was the only 4th Infantry soldier to leave on that flight – a cargo plane filled with communications equipment.

Crawford may have been the only Ironhorse soldier deploying Tuesday, but he got a standard send-off, complete with the Salvation Army's Hug Lady, the 4th Infantry band and honor guard and a visit by Hammond and his wife, Diane. The general and his wife have a tradition of visiting every group of departing 4th Infantry soldiers at Gray Army Airfield. A flight of one was no exception.

"Five hundred is equal to one," Hammond told Crawford.

"We'll see you down there shortly."

Crawford said he was overwhelmed by the attention he received just for being the only soldier leaving that day. It's something he definitely didn't expect; however, Hammond's visit earned the sergeant's respect. It shows that he cares about his soldiers and it was better than a commander who just sat behind a desk, he said.

Shortly after the Hammonds left, Crawford went outside to smoke. With his weapon slung over his shoulder, he lit a cigarette and watched hundreds of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers step off buses and enter the building.

The airfield's deployment center is divided in half, and Crawford would later sit in solitude, listening to music, while the other side of the building buzzed with activity.

Crawford has traveled an interesting path from his hometown of Temple Hills, Md., to Fort Hood. He is a 23-year-old switching systems supervisor in the Special Troops Battalion's Charlie Company.

"We're pretty much the AT&T of the Army," he said, explaining his job.

A lot of equipment on the cargo plane he would take to Kuwait was his.

"It goes with its owner," he joked. "I'd rather it go with me than someone else."

Crawford enlisted in the Army 4 years ago after flipping a coin. Heads he joins the Army, tails he joins the Marines. Both of his grandfathers were in the Air Force.

This is his second deployment to Iraq. The first was in 2005 with the 4th Infantry – the same company, the same platoon as this tour. On the way to Kuwait for that first deployment, Crawford remembered that he rode in a C-5 with eight other soldiers.

Half of his soldiers have already deployed with another advance party and the other half have yet to deploy.

There's something about being a noncommissioned officer that Crawford likes, he just can't put his finger on it. Maybe it's a pride thing, maybe it's something about helping people, he said.

The Army helped Crawford grow up "a lot." His younger days were spent in a town of nearly 8,000 where he was in a punk band and rocked a green Mohawk hairdo and a "punk-rock attitude."

He doesn't know where his military career will take him or how long he'll stay in the Army, but he said he fell in love with what he does.

Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at astair@kdhnews.com or call (254) 501-7547

Ellie