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Paratrooper wins 2007 Super Sapper award
By Spc. Joshua R. Ford, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Mar 6, 2007 - 5:39:08 PM
CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS BASE SPEICHER, Iraq - Airborne combat engineer, Spc. James Lugari, brought much recognition not only to his company but to his battalion, brigade and division by winning the 2007 Super Sapper award, which was presented Feb. 25 during a ceremony at COB Speicher.
Lt. Col. Troy Stephenson, commander, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, presents the 2007 Super Sapper award to Spc. James Lugari, combat engineer, Company A, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Feb. 25, 2007, during an award ceremony at Contingency Operations Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua R. Ford (released)
(My words here. Troy Stephenson is one of the coolest field grade officer you will ever meet. I worked with him during my tour with the 307th Engr Bn.
One of the best officers in the world!)
Lugari, Company A, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, is the second Soldier to receive the 2007 Super Sapper award. The award is presented to any lower-enlisted engineer in the Army annually by the Army's Association of Engineers.
"I had no idea I was going to receive the award. I guess I stood out on a couple of occasions when leadership wasn't around and I took charge," said Lugari. "I just did my job the way I thought it should be done. It's every Soldiers job to step up a level."
"[Lugari] takes a lot of initiative. If I give him a task, as long as it is humanly possible, he will complete it, and most of the time he will do more than I asked him to," said Sgt. James Mullin, Lugari's team leader. "His initiative takes a lot of pressure off me, making my job easier."
Lugari, a native of Monroe Mich., looked into joining the Army three years ago not knowing what he wanted to do in the service, he said.
After talking to his recruiter, who was a combat engineer, about the different jobs the Army offered, he found that being a combat engineer was exactly what he was looking to do for the Army.
Lugari is the first in his family to ever join an armed service and says he is contemplating reenlistment.
To receive the Super Sapper award, a Soldier's command has to submit a packet to the Association of Engineers. The association then looks at the individual's demonstrative potential, his technical and tactical knowledge and expertise in demolition, reconnaissance and patrolling, said Command Sgt. Maj. Charles E. Hawkins, Lugari's battalion sergeant major and the senior enlisted combat engineer in 3rd Brigade.
"[Lugari] has demonstrated the soundest foundation [of any other lower enlisted Soldier in the Army] to be awarded the Super Sapper engineer soldier of the year, said Hawkins.
"What makes a good soldier is leadership. If you don't have good leadership you don't have anything. So I thank my leaders for the Soldier I am today," said Lugari.
Lugari has been deployed to Iraq for more than six months now and has performed the role not only as a combat engineer but as an infantryman as well.
His unit has supported combat operations across their brigade's area-of-responsibility.
"It means a lot and tells me what I'm doing is not going unnoticed. [This award] makes me appreciate what I have done," said Lugari.
"I am proud of him. The engineer community is small, especially the airborne engineer community, so for him to get recognized as one of the best lower-enlisted engineers says a lot about him," said Hawkins.
ADDITIONAL PHOTO:
Command Sgt. Maj. Charles E. Hawkins, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, congratulates Spc. Spc. James Lugari, combat engineer, Company A, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, for winning the 2007 Super Sapper of the year award Feb. 25, 2007, during an award ceremony at Contingency Operations Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua R. Ford (released)
"fortune favors the brave"- Nicolo Machiavelli
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