KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - Kodiak celebrated the career of a man committed to a “home team” army.
Sgt. Jay Baldwin, who retired from the Alaska Army National Guard in October, served as administrator at the Kodiak Armory for 21 of his 27-year career, during a time when “homesteading,” or being allowed to serve in one place was unusual.
At a ceremony Feb. 6 at the American Legion he got to take turns with his former soldiers telling stories about their service and he was presented a string of awards for meritorious service.
During Baldwin’s tenure, the Kodiak-based guard unit trained together around Alaska. They deployed to the Baghdad Airport for more than a year in 2006, responded to emergency operations including the 1996 Big Lake Fire here in Alaska and went to Nome for Operation Noble Eagle, the guard’s emergency security response in the days after the 9/11 attacks.
The experience has left Baldwin with a strong sense of loyalty to the guard, which unlike the active duty military, uses soldiers who train and live in the community they joined in.
“They’re a community, they get up every weekend and they know each other,” he said in an interview Thursday at the armory.
“That’s something we’ve used to our advantage. There’s an unspoken word that we understand each other.”
Baldwin, 47, grew up in Sacramento, Calif., although his family is from Kodiak. He stumbled into the National Guard after high school. He wanted to join the military and pursue reconnaissance, but had a bad recruiter for the Marine Corps, his first choice, he said.
Baldwin remains interested in the art of reconnaissance. He taught his soldiers how to follow enemy units by the tracks they leave, including understanding an enemy’s diet by interpreting its feces.
In one especially ambitious training exercise, Baldwin got permission from the Air Force to conduct an operation on Pillar Mountain. The airmen were removing old antennas from the mountain and as part of the exercise they received a security escort from the guard and two Army Blackhawk helicopters. A group of Army Rangers came to play the “OpFor,” or opposing force.
When Baldwin joined the Kodiak unit in 1991 it had five soldiers. Over the past two decades that number grew to as much as 48 in 1997. The unit sent 27 Kodiak soldiers to the 2006 Iraq deployment.
“When I first joined, it struck me that people didn’t know where the armory was,” he said.
While he led the unit, he’s tried to make the unit more visible to the community by getting soldiers out and marching. He’s also updated the Powell Street armory so soldiers use it more frequently. As administrator he added computers, exercise equipment and even a hot tub to the facility. The latter amenity got the attention of an Army inspector.
“He was like, ’what is that Sgt. Baldwin?’”
“I said: ’It’s an infantry thermal recovery unit sir.’”
Although unconventional, Baldwin said the inspector warmed up to the idea that something like a hot tub had a place in the armory. Baldwin won a state award for the best Army National Guard facility in 1998.
Although he’s done at the National Guard, Baldwin doesn’t plan to leave Kodiak. He’s planning to work at J’Sound, the car audio business he and his wife own. He’s also looking forward to rediscovering camping and shooting with his 10-year-old son, activities that he’s associated too much with work to enjoy while on active duty.
The Kodiak Armory is currently without an administrator.
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Information from: Kodiak (Alaska) Daily Mirror, https://www.kodiakdailymirror.com
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