Sears greets Iraqi children while deployed in 2004 . | PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
was first assigned to Germany . “ My unit got assigned guard duty for all the facilities that were vacated by soldiers who were gone fighting Desert Storm ,” he said . “ I guess you kind of feel fortunate and misfortunate all at the same time .”
The retired colonel called his three years in Germany a time of “ total transition ” with the Berlin Wall having come down in 1989 and the kick off of Kosovo to go along with the rising tensions in the Middle East .
After his time in Europe , then-
Captain Sears did two stints in South Korea before landing stateside in Oklahoma .
“ That makes you appreciate Kentucky ,” the colonel said with a laugh . “ The people are great … but when you grow up around trees , and there are no trees . It was super hot like a hair dryer in the summer , then cold like a drafty window in the winter .”
Col . Sears was a tactical instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma when his career took a 180-turn . On the morning of September 11 , 2001 , he had returned home to shower after an early-morning training when his wife Becky alerted him to what was happening .
“ We didn ’ t have cable ; we had one little TV by choice ,” Col . Sears recalled . “ I remember it in black-andwhite , but surely it was a color TV . I remember standing there thinking , ‘ This is going to change our lives .’… After that , everything was focused on the war . Even if you weren ’ t deployed , every job you had had that wartime focus .”
Col . Sears was transferred to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg , North Carolina , for combat duty . Over the course of several tours , he served in both Iraq and Afghanistan . During his last tour during the 2010 surge , he was a battalion commander overseeing 900 troops .
“ Training ’ s key ,” Col . Sears said of the experience . “ Your actions in training will correlate to your actions in combat , but you don ’ t really know until you ’ re tested by fire how you ’ re going to react .…
“ It ’ s not that you look forward to those things ,” he continued . “ I would have been happy to do 20 and retire without a combat patch but that ’ s what you sign up to do . There ’ s a challenge in front of you and soldiers are looking at you .”
The colonel talked about the balance between concern for yourself and concern for your soldiers . He noted that , aside from a few opera-
6 Salute our Heroes