Brian Hill

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (April 14, 2020) — A volunteer team of 12 noncommissioned officers assigned to Company B, 169th Engineer Battalion, have stepped up to help their fellow quarantined Soldiers.

According to Company Commander Capt. Romeo Tcheutchua, along with other units on Fort Leonard Wood, his company set up a family support team tasked with making daily calls to identify needs and taking turns running errands whenever necessary. Volunteers who join the teams bring groceries, cleaning supplies, toiletries – anything the Soldiers and their families need.

“It is quite encouraging to see how the NCOs volunteered without hesitation to be part of the care team,” Tcheutchua said. “This creates a sense of community in the unit and enhances peer-to-peer bonding in a difficult time.”

The process of re-supplying the quarantined Soldiers is done following all social distancing protocols.

The quarantined Soldiers make purchases online for pickup, Tcheutchua said. A volunteer then takes the confirmation number to the store and has the groceries loaded into the trunk. The items are then left in front of the quarantined Soldiers’ residence.

“Volunteers call the quarantined Soldier to let them know items are dropped off,” Tcheutchua said. “There’s no physical interaction between the volunteers and the Soldiers in quarantine.”

Tcheutchua said the reaction from his quarantined Soldiers has been “appreciation.”

“Knowing their peers care means a lot,” he said.

For Staff Sgt. Timothy Scott, a technical engineer advanced individual training instructor and one of the volunteers, this isn’t a new role – it’s just something Soldiers do for one another.

“Soldiers always have the ‘I’ve Got Your Six’ mindset when addressing families in need,” Scott said. “However, this situation has made the logistics of that take a more strategic approach. This approach has allowed us to provide the necessary lifelines to those in need while also providing levels of risk mitigation to all personnel involved.”

-30-

About Fort Leonard Wood

Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.

Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.

More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission