LANDSTUHL, Germany - Decked in a bright orange vest, Sgt. Jurece Calhoun halts traffic with a handheld stop sign as a group of schoolchildren cross over the zebra stripes.
Calhoun smiles as they call out, "Thank You! Good Morning."
Each morning, Soldiers from the 181st Signal Company volunteer as crossing guards at Landstuhl Elementary and Middle School. A father himself, Calhoun likes knowing he's helping his community and that his efforts help kids get to school safely.
"I love it," Calhoun said. "Some of the kids are really friendly, some are shy. A couple kids salute me. One even tried to play catch while I was holding the sign. They put a smile on your face."
Volunteering at the busy intersection outside the school began last spring, when Staff Sgt. Charles Rhodes, the company's maintenance noncommissioned officer in charge and headquarters platoon sergeant, saw teachers outside on crosswalk duty. His children attend the school and his wife works there.
The signal company Soldiers do physical training each morning on post and could come help out, he thought. Plus, he figured the teachers would be better off preparing things in their classrooms.
"We can handle the cold and the rain," Rhodes said. "Just being able to come here and make sure these military children are safe. It's just 20 minutes out of our day, that's important."
His section, six Soldiers in all, take turns each week donning orange vests and taking up the stop sign. But that's not an order.
"This is completely volunteer. They are not 'volun-told,'" Rhodes said. "They are out here because they want to be."
April is the Month of the Military Child. And each April, Army commands also stress the importance of volunteerism and recognize those who contribute to garrison communities.
The signal company leaders are proponents of volunteering in the garrison, Rhodes said. Soldiers from the company coach youth sports and take part in activities at the USO's Wounded Warrior Center near the hospital.
But the spirit of volunteering, as crossing guards demonstrate, is a yearlong all-weather commitment. It means making sure kids arrive safely at school during all seasons - often through snow, sleet and rain.
"It's a little difficult when it's raining. But I found that a stop sign makes a pretty good umbrella," said Sgt. Eric Brown, a maintenance NCO from Beaufort, South Carolina, who has a 4-year-old daughter.
On those cold and rainy days, he thinks what it will be like when his daughter is making her way to school, he said.
"I'd appreciate the crossing guards that come out and make sure she gets to school safe," Brown said.
The Soldiers' efforts help with safety and give teachers time to focus in the mornings, said Jason James, LEMS assistant principal.
"It opened the ability to have our teachers in the classroom," James said. "That's pretty valuable."
It's not a long shift, just about 20 minutes during the morning rush to drop students off before school. When Spc. Kenneth Fischer, 27, sees one mom with her stroller about 8:10 a.m., he knows his work is done.
"She drops her kid off and goes for a run," Fischer said. "She's always the last one."
Fischer is proud to represent the signal company, a unit not known to many in the community, he said.
"It's important to be involved with the community. This is an Army base and everyone deserves the right to walk to school safely. It's that simple."
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