Name
Staff Sgt. Robert Brickner
Unit
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 187th Ordnance Battalion
Military occupational specialty
91B, Wheeled vehicle mechanic
Hometown
Sewickley, Penn.
Hobbies
Community service
FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- Scouting is a part of life for Staff Sgt. Robert Brickner and his family. The Scoutmaster for Fort Jackson’s troop, who has been involved with Boy Scouts since his childhood, said he sees volunteerism as a way to give back to others.
“I was only a Boy Scout for about a year and a half when I was younger,” Brickner said. “But my son has been involved for the past 10 years. I want to give back to the Scouts now so they don’t miss out on years of Scouting like I did.”
Brickner’s son is a 16-year-old Eagle Scout, his daughter is a 13-year-old Girl Scout, and his wife is a Boy Scout committee chairwoman.
“We are a Scouting family, everyone is involved in something. I just love to see the boys develop into young men,” Brickner said. “We teach them how to camp, how to survive and give them mentorship they may not always get at school or anywhere else.”
Brickner says that scouting at Fort Jackson has special benefits that are not found at most locations.
“We didn’t have money to send everyone away to camp this year so we camped here on post. We experienced the rifle shooting merit badge here on the field training site, then we did some research on the Red Cockaded Woodpecker,” Brickner said. “Military Police Investigations came in to do the fingerprinting merit badge for us. So we utilized lots of the resources we have here, which is something that a lot of the scout troops don’t have the opportunities to do.”
While in Army uniform, Brickner also deals with Soldiers in a field environment.
“Here at the FTX site I instruct the convoy operation lane for the Wheeled Vehicle Mechanics Course,” Brickner said. “We take Soldiers out on a convoy lane where they encounter (Improvised Explosive Device) simulators, and they execute everything that they’ve learned in their school training.”
Soldiers remain at the training site for three days and learn the specifics of performing mechanical skills in a field environment.
“They have a good time; occasionally there is a little bit of stress, but we teach them to learn from their stressful situations,” Brickner said. “We also teach them to learn from their mistakes here and to realize what types of things can happen so they don’t have issues out there in the real world at war.”
Brickner’s supervisor, Sgt. 1st Class Travis Beecher, said that Brickner’s selfless service and loyalty add to their team and mission accomplishment at the 187th Ordnance Battalion Training Site.
“He has a level head and helps bring all of us together to get things done,” Beecher said. “He shows great loyalty and selfless service to the unit and the NCOs on his team. He does a lot for so many.”
When Brickner is not with his Boy Scouts or his Soldiers in field training, he spends time volunteering at the Fortress Coffeehouse ministry in preparation for his next life goal.
“I am studying for a Masters of Divinity and originally planned to become a chaplain,” Brickner said. “Now, I will probably retire in five years and then head off to wherever God leads.”
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