KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Sedrick Robinson may be better than Santa Claus.
While Santa is seen only during the holidays, Robinson, the joint mobility processing center deployment operations support manager for the United Service Organizations Kaiserslautern, provides cheer and acts of kindness year-round.
Though it may be hard to tell from his cumbersome job title, Robinson simply makes things as easy and as comfortable as possible for the Soldiers who process through the Deployment Processing
Center and "purple ramp" here.
Soldiers deploy from the DPC on Rhine Ordnance Barracks and redeploy via the purple
ramp on Ramstein Air Base. Both facilities are operated by U.S. Army Europe's 21st
Theater Sustainment Command.
At both locations Robinson sets up tables with coffee, sandwiches, cookies, soft drinks
and candy as well as razors, shaving cream, lotions, personal hygiene items and more.
More importantly, he offers a cheerful and friendly smile, a compassionate ear and
thoughtful gestures that make the Soldiers' lives a bit better.
When the staff at the DPC recently worked shifts to process a record 4,000 Soldiers in 10
days, Robinson was on every shift as well.
"We worked three shifts, always overlapping two of them to have at least six people here
at all times. Mr. Robinson was here for every single movement, no matter what time or
day. He worked by himself -- no one to relieve him, no one to assist," said
Odis Atkinson, a DPC team leader and equipment specialist. "I've worked here for 15
months, and during that time Mr. Robinson has supported every one of our missions."
Wayne Rondeau, another DPC team leader and processing specialist, agreed.
"Mr. Robinson really goes above and beyond when he provides his services. A lot of the
hours he works here are volunteer hours, too. If we come in at three or four in the
morning, so does he. We worked through the entire Thanksgiving weekend, and he did,
too," Rondeau said.
Robinson said it's really very simple -- the men and women in uniform are his heroes.
"I see them outbound at ROB and inbound at Ramstein. When they leave the DPC I
always tell them, 'I'll have some coffee waiting for you when you get back.' I want them
to know someone cares -- someone thinks about them," he said.
Robinson's examples of "small things" include taking care of one Soldier who didn't
expect to spend the night at the DPC and needed hairpins. He said there have been
several incidents involving Soldiers who mistakenly brought car keys or other important
items with them to the DPC as they deployed. Robinson said he makes sure those items
made it to their rightful locations.
"Those little things mean so much to them and are so easy for me. They show their
pleasure and appreciation in so many ways. It's very rewarding to be able to put a smile
on someone's face, even if it's just for a minute," he said.
"They go into harm's way and yet they are so positive, so up. They have such spirit.
It's amazing," he said. "They return to the purple ramp on Ramstein and greet me with
their big smiles, saying, 'I knew you'd be here when I get back.'"
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