I witnessed a Drill Sergeant (DS) in my unit circumvent the Army's system to steal over $7,000 dollars. DS Whales was an outstanding non-commissioned officer. He was assigned to a Training Post and loved his job. He enjoyed very much being a Soldier, training Soldiers, and above all, being a Drill Sergeant.
Dean and I were newly-minted lieutenants assigned to separate battalions in the same brigade. We went to college together, graduated airborne school and the officer basic course together, and he was a frequent guest at my my dinner table.
Our task force deployed to Kuwait in November 2002 in support of Operation DESERT SPRING. Essentially, we were part of a brigade combat team deployed to deter Iraqi aggression. Despite this deterrence mission, everyone in the brigade knew we would make up part of the invasion force to topple the Iraqi regime once the President made the decision to go to war.