Veterans Day salute
The Big Picture
Jefferson Township’s Carroll counts on law enforcement brothers
in his latest deployment
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
On Veterans Day, photos like the one atop this page take on
special meaning. It’s a family photo, to be sure, and can you sur-
mise what makes this family unique?
The soldier second from the right is Major William Carroll,
commander of Bravo Company, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion
(Airborne) in the Army Reserves out of Fort Dix and a Jefferson
Township Local 190 member. The others in the photo are also law
enforcement officers from New Jersey, New York, New Mexico…
and Texas. Their sense of duty has compelled them to go from pa-
trolling the streets to currently patrolling the Horn of Africa.
That call of duty leading soldiers to become law enforcement
officers – and one that often leads them back to deployment – un-
doubtedly runs deeper than the Grand Canyon. And with that
comes a family bond that runs stronger than Gorilla Glue.
“Just like back home, we’re very tight with each other here,”
Carroll related from his base at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Af-
rica. “It’s great having other law enforcement around because we
can tell war stories about calls we have been on, and these are
people you know you can count on.”
Beyond the photographs and memories, the service that the
404th provides in the African countries of Djibouti, Somalia,
Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi is tantamount to
law enforcement. The company is assigned to civil affairs, which
requires going out in five-person tactical teams, meeting with lo-
cal leaders to see what security and critical infrastructure, such
as roads, schools, clinics, power plants and even sewer lines, is
needed.
“Because of the nature of dealing with people, it’s a lot like our
jobs back home,” Carroll added.
The photo here was taken after the seven officers finished con-
ducting an airborne jump with the French military. Most of the
60
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ NOVEMBER 2018
company has been previously deployed with multiple tours to Af-
ghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.
Carroll joined the Marines on Sept. 11, 1995 and served five
years in the infantry. In May 2001, he joined the Army Nation-
al Guard and was deployed after 9/11 to protect the bridges and
tunnels. In 2008, he was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom, and in 2013, he went to Afghanistan as part of Op-
eration Enduring Freedom. After joining the Army Reserves in
2015, Carroll now has 23-plus years with the military.
“Being able to serve is a humbling sense of duty,” he stated. “To
be able to preserve freedom and human liberties makes me proud
to be an American.”
His sense of duty enabled Carroll to endure leaving his family
for this latest deployment, which will continue until the spring.
When he went to Afghanistan, his 5-year-old son Liam had just
been born, and his 8-year-old daughter Rosie realized just enough
to miss her father. It is tough to miss some of the growing-up mile-
stones-like Red Ribbon Week at Rosie’s school, where he has visit-
ed each year to talk to students about the dangers of using drugs.
“This has definitely been the hardest deployment because I
was torn between my family and my military family,” Carroll
shared. “But as the commander, I felt it would have been selfish to
say, ‘Good luck over there’ and then watch them go.”
So while Carroll tends to his military family, his brothers and
sisters from Local 190 have taken care of his Rosie, Liam and wife
Diana. Because he had to ship out so quickly, they even finished
a construction project that Carroll had started. And while the Jef-
ferson Township Police Department holds his job, other members
are also covering tours for Carroll and another officer who has
been deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“I would like to thank all my sisters and brothers back home for
keeping my family safe while I am deployed,” Carroll said. “Please
be safe, enjoy your families and never take anything for granted.”