SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- On Feb. 7, a little more than three years after the attack that took his leg, Sgt. Charles "Chas" Shaffer realized his goal of becoming a U.S. Army noncommissioned officer.
Shaffer -- who works in the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Personal Property office -- was promoted to sergeant during a ceremony in the SDDC headquarters building here.
Lt. Gen. Kevin Leonard, SDDC commanding general, presided over the ceremony.
Following the promotion orders, Shaffer stood with about a dozen fellow U.S. Army NCOs and began reciting the NCO Creed. After he recited the first sentence, other NCOs took turns reciting the remaining words. The emotional event ended with SDDC's Command Sgt. Maj. James Riddick reciting the final sentence of the NCO Creed: "I will not forget, nor will I allow my comrades to forget that we are professionals, noncommissioned officers, leaders!"
On Sept. 1, 2008, in Mosul, Iraq, Shaffer was seriously injured when the vehicle he was driving was attacked. Shaffer and two other Soldiers inside the vehicle were hit by multiple grenades. In addition to massive injuries to his right leg, Shaffer sustained shrapnel injuries to his left leg and burns to his face, hands and lungs. Shaffer lost most of his right leg from the attack, and all but four inches of the leg was amputated later because of infection.
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