| CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Action seems to follow Ernesto Torres - and so does achievement.
Torres, a Florida Army National Guard infantry officer, is posted to the former Republican Guard Palace in the heart of Baghdad. At 20, the Okeechobee native who now makes his home in St. Augustine was in similar, dangerous surroundings during Operation Just Cause in Panama. Torres is a full-time operations officer with the Guard's recruiting force in Florida, but, as a troop-oriented leader with command experience, he was tapped to join his former drilling unit for Operation Iraqi Freedom. "Our soldiers' civilian lives came to a dead stop right after the Christmas holiday," Torres said. "They answered the call when our nation needed them most." Florida Guard units staged in Fort Stewart, Ga., and by mid-March some were among the first to cross the berm into Iraq. Other units, broken up into company and platoon size, provided security to the U.S. Army's scud-killing Patriot batteries in numerous countries throughout the Arabian Gulf region. Torres was born in Aquadilla, Puerto Rico, moving to Okeechobee when he was 8 years old. He graduated from Okeechobee High School in 1987. Two years later, he was pressed into service as a translator with the Army's 7th Light Infantry Division, earning his first "combat patch" on the streets of Panama City, Panama. Returning to Florida following a four-year enlistment, Torres almost immediately joined the Guard. "I wasn't finished serving my country," he said. "And I also wanted to serve my state." That service opened up new vistas for Torres when he was assigned to recruiting duty in Daytona Beach as part of the Active Guard Reserve program, joining the cadre of uniformed professionals who serve on a full-time basis. Torres' seniors observed his natural talent for marketing the Florida Guard's college and other programs to young people; he began piling up "Rookie of the Year," "Recruiter of the Year" and other honors at a cyclic rate. By 1997, the Guard placed him in its Officer Candidate School program while supporting the college studies he was pursuing in his spare time. Two years later, he had both a commission and a bachelor's degree and was transferred to St. Augustine. At the same time, he became a platoon leader with Charlie Company of Orlando's 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment -- "The Seminole Battalion." He had served in the same unit deployed with the battalion to his familiar South Florida surroundings in support of Hurricane Andrew recovery operations. |
