CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - The 1st Cavalry Division Special Troops Battalion was awarded the Commanding General's Retention Award for meeting and exceeding their retention goals for fiscal year 2007 during an award ceremony at the division headquarters building here, Nov. 12.
Portola Valley, Calif. native, Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commanding general of Multi-National Division - Baghdad and 1st Cav. Div., and Townsend, Mont. native, Command Sgt. Maj. Philip F. Johndrow, the senior noncommissioned officer of MND-B and 1st Cav. Div., presented the award to Long Island, N.Y. native, Lt. Col. Daniel Garcia, commander of the DSTB, and Lancaster, S.C. native, Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffery A. Moses, the top NCO of the DSTB.
Fil commended the DSTB on their successful efforts and said he considers reenlistment numbers to be an indicator of the health of a unit. Based on the numbers shown, he said he was very happy with the unit.
"You had a mission of 160 Soldiers, and you reenlisted that and a quarter, with 195 soldiers," Fil said. "This is an affirmation of not only are (the Soldiers) proud of where they work, this shows they want to stay there. This is the most positive affirmation you have that things are going well."
Garcia said he has already set his sights on this year's retention numbers, and has set a reenlistment goal for when he leaves Iraq.
"Our goal is to have 50 percent of our reenlistment goals for 2008 done by the transfer of authority ceremony, and we are on track to do just that," Garcia said.
According to Fil, the DSTB has already reenlisted 29 Soldiers this year, and are well on their way to reaching their retention goals for the new fiscal year.
Garcia said he believes the reason the unit was so successful this last year is because he has a great unit.
"The 1st Cavalry Division is a great outfit," said Garcia. "There is a lot of camaraderie, a lot of tradition and a lot of history. The Soldiers like to be a part of that history."
Moses credited the leadership in the unit for the high retention numbers. He explained, when a unit has great leadership, the Soldiers want to stay with that unit and they want to continue to work for that team.
The 1st Cavalry Division mirrored how successful the Army's retention and recruiting efforts were this last year. According to the Department of Defense, the Army exceeded its goal of 80,000 new recruits and reenlistments this year by 407 Soldiers.
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