U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Daniel D. Pierson and Melissa Head, members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division in Iraq, work to improve the country for Iraqi citizens. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo
Posted on 08/15/2005 6:15:59 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 15, 2005 — On first blush, Daniel D. Pierson may appear to be the quintessential, stern, grizzled, desert camouflage uniformed U.S. Army first sergeant.
“Yep, I'm a snake-eater,” he jokes, alluding to his special forces training and assignments. “But I only eat bad snakes.”
In turn, Melissa Head, an attractive, easy smiling young lady, would seem to be the very antithesis of the senior military professional with the burr haircut.
Both, however, have several things in common. First, they both come from the Missouri River border town of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Additionally, each is presently a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division in Iraq. She is an attorney in the Continuing Real Estate Support Team; he is the senior enlisted man in the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment - its first sergeant.
Pierson, a 1984 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, started his military career earlier than most having joined the Iowa Army National Guard as a combat signaler and going to basic training between his junior and senior years. Not long after commencement exercises he transferred to the Army Reserves to become an interrogator, which led to his joining the active duty Army as a counterintelligence agent in 1986.
Athletic and outgoing, Head, attended Lewis Central High School. Affable but competitive she was a soccer player and cheerleader, graduating in 1997. She sensed then that her enjoyment of organization but desire for challenges found the perfect utilitarian application in the legal arena.
Between her pompoms and receipt of her Juris Doctorate, Head earned an undergraduate degree from Buena Vista College, Council Bluffs campus, and obtained her legal schooling at Creighton University where she specialized in business law. Between these two academic stints she became a government service member, in the paralegal capacity, with the Omaha District of the Corps of Engineers. Now, as a CREST member, she is responsible for obtaining or maintaining private property leases for U.S. military bases in the Balad, Fallujah, Najaf and Baghdad areas. And this work is not her first tour of duty in Iraq. Head was deployed to Camp Victory for six months last year, returned stateside for only four months, and then returned last December.
On the other - uniformed - side, following the counterintelligence agent's course, Pierson went through airborne training and served several years at Fort Hood, Texas, where he honed his leadership skills and learned
how to conduct counterintelligence operations in a time of war.
Next, while with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C., he gleaned knowledge from several special intelligence schools and assorted missions and unique training opportunities. He followed this tour with six years in Panama where he met and married Ruth.
He has spent the last couple of years at Headquarters, U.S. Southern Command where, as a result of his excellent bi-lingual abilities, supported the Columbian military's Command Sergeant Majors Course. His leadership abilities are now fully employed in the taxing job of first sergeant for an organization whose assorted team is comprised of military from various services, civilians and contractors.
The USACE-GRD is one of the principal leads in the massive Iraq reconstruction effort.
At the time of Iraq's transition to sovereignty in June 2004, there were just over 200 reconstruction projects started. Today, this organization of which Head and Pierson are a part, is responsible for more than 2,705 projects started, valued at more than $6.4 billion. More than 1,588 projects are finished, with a value of more than $1.6 billion.
Head was fast to point out the vitally important role that the military has played for the entire region in removal of the despotic regime of Saddam Hussein.
“Even the simplest of observations of our military shows them to be exactly what they are – the best of the best,” she says. “The best trained, the best disciplined and the best of our men and women in heart, conscience and soul as they attentively help the Iraqi civilians build themselves a country.”
Smiling like a proud and doting big brother, Pierson looks at her, turns, shakes his head and adds, “A lot of folks back stateside still don't understand the whole ‘picture' over here. This is the ultimate team effort. We're partners with the Iraqis in building a country from the ground up. It takes great government service professionals like Melissa, working with our contractors and sub-contractor partners to make what the military did all worth while.”
Then with an infectious, Iowa grin Pierson says, “I guess you could say that thanks to my fellow Hawkeye Melissa, we're helping Iraq ‘head' in the right direction!”
PING!
BTT!!!!!!
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