An exceptional NCO

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – “Can you put your head on your pillow and know that you’re respected? Did you offend anyone today, and for what reason?” These are the questions that U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Bowling asks his Soldiers after each mission. 

A non-commissioned officer in Charge of 3rd Platoon, D Company, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, a police mentoring team at Forward Operating Base Vulcan, this Soldier-turned Airman-turned-Soldier is highly respected by the men who work for him, and those he works for.

“Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage – Staff Sgt. Bowling is the personification of the Army Values,” boasted Bowling’s Platoon leader, U.S. Army 1st. Lt David Esra, Qara Bagh/Waghez Police Mentoring Team chief assigned to FOB Vulcan's Combined Action Unit. “He has continually proven himself to be an exceptional Soldier and leader. Not once has he sought to meet his own needs before each of his Soldiers’ needs were met.”

Since being in Afghanistan, Bowling has been in multiple improvised explosive device blasts and multiple battles where he exposed himself to enemy fire in order to break-up an enemy attack. He has also responded to incidents where he utilized his paramedic skills, under enemy fire, on civilian causalities on the battlefield.

Ironically, although Bowling claims to dislike people, his career pattern reflects only jobs which serve the people.

“I am only what I am, and who I am because of one person in my life.  I’m a reflection of somebody.  Who I am, somebody made me.  They instilled their morals and their values in me,” said Bowling as he described growing up under the influence of his grandmother. “She’s the one that instilled my humanitarianism and my morality.  She was my best friend.”

“Growing up in Vegas, there was a lot of trouble to get into,” said Bowling, who at 25 was a chef at a major casino. “I was at a time in my life where all my buddies were returning from being in the Marine Corps. I was in the Marine Corps (Reserve Officer Training Corps), and it was my intention to become a Marine.”

But a series of events led him to join the Army in 1989, at 25. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne graduating Airborne school as a paratrooper, missing the Panama invasion by one week. 

While assigned to a NATO base in Italy, his first deployment was as an infantry mortarman, providing indirect fire support with a line company. His unit deployed with French and Spanish forces, operating out of Turkey.

“We came in from Turkey up north across the Turkish border into Iraq as part of the NATO coalition supporting Operation Provide Comfort.  Our mission was to protect the Kurds. Not actual fighting,” said Bowling.

“We did our job … we did our job well,” Bowling reflected. “I lost some friends there to land mines.  I never fired any rounds. We captured a lot of Iraqi National Guard guys.  Many soldiers detained them and took their munitions away.”

After fulfilling his first enlistment commitment, he got out of the Army and went to school to be a paramedic.

“My goal was to go to nursing school in the Army.  I got out to save a marriage that was failing. I tried to save it, but it didn’t happen,” said Bowling.

After working in Las Vegas as a medic, Bowling was picked up by a fire department in a county south of Atlanta, Ga.

Ten years later, at 35, he joined the Air Force Reserves as a firefighter.

Bowling was assigned to the 94th Civil Engineers Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. He deployed twice with the unit – once to Prince Sultan Air base, and once to Al Dafra AB. While deployed to Al Dafra as a firefighter, his number one priority was to provide protection for the refueling aircraft that were covering the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq.

“My transition from green to blue was seamless,” said Bowling.  “However, my Army mentality versus my Air Force mentality was a bit of a problem. I had to learn to relax. The rank structure and the responsibility for an E-6 is not the same in the Air Force as it is in the Army. The Air Force is more career-minded where the Army is leadership driven.”

In October 2004, Bowling saw in the local newspaper that the Georgia National Guard was preparing to deploy.  He knew he wanted to go with them so he traded in his Air Force blue to return to his roots of Army green.

“I was wearing the blue, and I’d been deployed with the blue, but I didn’t feel the same honor and value. I didn’t feel as tall and proud as when I wore the Army uniform,” explained Bowling.  “Don’t get me wrong, love the Air Force and have great respect for what they do. But after being in the Army and going into the Air Force, I felt lazy. I couldn’t lead and be with the young Soldiers like I wanted to.”

When asked how he dealt with the transition from blue back to green, he gave the standard Army answer of “too easy.”

“Here in the Army my job is to lead. More than that, it’s to mentor and train the guys to take my place. It’s all about the young guys coming up,” said Bowling. “It’s all part of the cycle.”

In May 2005 Bowling deployed to Baghdad as an infantry squad leader and Bradley commander, where his section occupied support-by-fire positions providing over-watch for his fellow Soldiers moving forward in HMMWVs.

“I was new to the unit and didn’t know anyone,” said Bowling. “That didn’t matter though because I was back in the Army again.”

After serving in Baghdad, he stayed on active duty to be an urban warfare instructor as part of Operation Warrior Trainer, a program where returning personnel train current tactics, techniques, and procedures to the soldiers preparing to deploy.

Bowling has also served as a civilian contractor as an assistant fire chief in various areas of southwest Asia.

Upon returning to the states, he moved from Atlanta to Northern Idaho, leaving behind his career as a firefighter to go back to emergency medical services.

“It’s hard to say, but painfully true,” he explained. “I left the leadership position because I’m not a bureaucratic administrative type of person. I can do it, but the joy for me is being involved with the people. I like to mentor others to rise. I get more success and I feel better about myself when I help someone else lift themselves up.”

Since moving to Idaho, Bowling still kept in touch with his Georgia National Guard friends. In March 2008, Bowling heard that the Guard unit was deploying to Afghanistan.

“January rolled around and they started calling saying ‘hey, we’re in training and we could really use you!’ But I was happy where I was in my life. I was working two days and skiing the other five. I had no business deploying again,” said Bowling.

“March came, then April. I knew they were still in training. I got an email from the 1st Sgt., who was in my company in Iraq, saying that they could really use some help, that they needed my style of leadership. One day I woke up and said to myself, ‘Hey, what am I doing? I know those guys that are over there need me.’ So I called the 1st Sgt. and asked him if he needed my help. He responded with, ‘I was wondering when you were going to call’”.

Since being deployed to Afghanistan as a platoon sergeant, Bowling has led his team of 30 Soldiers who range in age from 19 to 57.

“I’m very proud to be in this unit,” said Bowling. “When it comes time to keep my Soldiers in line, I don’t punish. I give them corrective action. Some of them think I’m a hard ass for it. The guys all say I’m watching, even when I’m not watching.”

While discussing being in the leadership role, Bowling quickly explained that there is no greater honor.

“You are responsible for someone’s son or daughter. I have some 22- and 24-year-olds that are married with kids. I’m taking care of someone’s husband and dad. Yeah, they chat on the phone with their wives, they talk to their kids. They (the families) don’t think about me and I’m fine with that. The wives don’t know who I am, but the Soldiers do. And I’m keeping them in check. The moms and dads don’t know who has their son, but the son knows who’s keeping him in check. There’s not a greater honor in the world. That’s why I’m here. It’s not about pulling the trigger and shooting the bad guy. I’d like to say that maybe when I was 25, and first joined the Army, that’s what I was all about. But the maturity of life over the course of the military and what it’s done for me, there just so much more to it than that. If you ask any of my soldiers what my two main priorities are, they’ll all answer the same. They’ll tell you it’s safety and security. They’re parallel with each other. They are first, last, and always.”

Although Bowling is an E-6, he has excelled at taking on the roles and responsibilities of the E-7 position he is assigned to.

“The higher in rank you get, the farther you get from the men. I belong with the men. I would not ask them to do something that I wouldn’t do myself.”

Proving true to his words, in September 2009, Bowling successfully led his Soldiers during an eight-hour firefight where five insurgents were killed and six were captured. During this engagement, Bowling placed himself in harm’s way by exposing himself to heavy enemy fire to clear a wood line and kalat wall. He then led three Soldiers on foot to clear one thousand meters of rough terrain while under enemy fire.

The mission of the police mentoring team (Combined Action Team) is to support and train the Afghan National Police and develop them into professional public servants. The team helps build trust and confidence between the police and the people that they serve.

“They’re on the frontline,” Bowling said in reference to the ANP. “My job is to teach them how to be an organization. How to have structure, run an administration, and order and request supplies. It’s logistics. I also teach them how to gather intelligence. Not to act on it, but how to gather it. They’re policemen, not soldiers.”

“The mission here is great,” said Bowling when asked how successful he feels his organization has been. “I know I’m not going to win the war. I know my platoon and my company isn’t going to win the war. The questions you have to ask yourself are: ‘Were we safe? Did everyone come home? Did I make a difference in the Afghan population when I was out in sector?’ The mission isn’t about pulling the trigger. It’s about information operations.

“Here, it’s a counterinsurgency operation. You can’t be disrespectful with anybody. My goal when I go outside the wire is information operations... and don’t hurt anybody. That’s how I judge success,” said Bowling.

Currently, Bowling has 20 years of total active federal military service. When asked if he will retire he replied that he will stay in the National Guard but wants to return to nursing school.

“I’d just started nursing school around September 11,” recalled Bowling. “I got deployed, and never finished. It’s been nine years and I keep kicking myself in the butt for not finishing.”

When asked if asked if he would stop school and deploy again, he quickly responded “Yes.”