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Honoring Our Veterans: Mark Boaz (Part 2)

 

Author:
Matt Nelson
MT43 News Correspondent


Honoring Our Veterans: Mark Boaz Matt Nelson

This is Part 2 of a 2-part article honoring Mark Boaz.

Another wartime task for the S1 (personnel office) is submitting awards. I did this for some 500 soldiers in our battalion task force, in the field with my field printer and computer. And by I, I mean the battalion S1 soldiers of course. We got quite a few Bronze Star awards. The S1 shop wrote the awards, made the pay changes, processed the mail, and other personnel actions in the field.  This was all S1 stuff. There were no hostilities, no people shooting at us, but there was still a lot going on.

We were deployed for about 8 months, and about a year after returning to Ft. Riley, I became the B. Company Commander for 3rd Bn, 37th Armor Regiment. As a combat arms captain, you have to prove yourself as a company commander and many say it's the best job in the Army.

From there I went to Bozeman for 4 1/2 years working at the ROTC Department at Montana State University. Although it took a few years, my time at MSU was one reason we ended up in Townsend after I retired.

After my time in Bozeman, I was assigned to Fort Irwin, CA, (also called the National Training Center (NTC)) where I was promoted to Major. My assignment was assistant Inspector General. You take complaints from soldiers who are seeking justice. Be neutral, look into unfairness, and abuses of power, and conduct inspections. Subsequently, I was assigned as S1 to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment which acts as the opposing force at the NTC.

In 2001 I had a one-year assignment to go to the Sinai Peninsula between Egypt and Israel as part of a peacekeeping force with representatives from several nations. My job was deputy chief of personnel. It was a great assignment and I got to see many awesome sites in Egypt and Israel. But also, during that time 9/11 occurred here and made it a lot more difficult to move around freely.

From the Sinai Peninsula, I was stationed at the pentagon and at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. At Fort Belvoir, I was the Executive Officer for an agency doing battle analysis and simulations. Then finally I had a short stint at the National Guard bureau writing deployment policy before I retired in 2006 after twenty years and six months of active military service.

I came to Townsend in 2018 with my wife, Vivian, and daughter, Ava. I am quite active with the American Legion Post 42 and Vivian is active on the volunteer fire department and at Trailhead church. We love this town and the people here. When the Legion renovated the back end of the building they needed somebody to handle renting it out and doing the contracts, etc. I am doing that as Event Coordinator and also am chairman of the Events Committee which plans and executes most of the events we do there. I would encourage Veterans to attend a monthly meeting and get to know us. Our meetings are held on the first Monday of the month.”

 

Article Images

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PhotoCredit: Mark Boaz
Image 1 Caption: The Order of Saint George Medallion is the top award given to members of the Army's mounted force by the United States Armor Association of the United States Army
Image 2 Caption: Guidon from Mark’s time as the Company Commander, Unit B, 3rd battalion, 37th Armored Regiment