I remember sitting with you in the TOC in Mizan in ’09, brother. I remember telling you that I knew I would survive this deployment because only the good soldiers die, and I was a complete turd so I knew I would make it through just fine. I remember hearing you laugh and seeing your face light up with the infectious smile you always had. I always respected you as a leader and I will forever remember feeling inspired by your presence. You had a way of making me want to do better just by being there. Leadership is a skill that is usually hard to develop and even harder to employ properly. You seemed to just do it calmly and effortlessly, almost by just existing. You were so natural a leader and a soldier that you did not even need to try. You had already transcended any kind of need. It is just who you were. Who you still are.

     You came to Blackfoot Company when it needed a commander who could inspire action through positive energy; someone who could make you want to fight harder because you want to make him proud. The company did not need a leader who had to rely on threats of punishment or negative reinforcement, as so many weak and unskilled leaders do, in an attempt to motivate soldiers. Threats and punishment work on the young and unproven, but they would never again work on the men of Blackfoot company after that ’07 deployment. That deployment was a trial by fire that burned away the weak and forged the devout into something unbreakable. Something immune to fear and unmoved by the threat of anything, or anyone, foreign or domestic. There was no more theory on how to fight and win, we had proven it all a hundred times or more in the place we would go back to, to do it all over again. But just as the company itself had become hardened beyond measure, it had also become somewhat numb and jaded due to the trial that had cast it in steel. We needed a commander to inspire us with his character. Threats wouldn’t work anymore. We needed positive, effective, and compassionate leadership.

    And so God, in His Perfect Wisdom, sent the right man. CPT Mark A. Garner. Proud West Point Grad. Inspiring leader. Exemplary soldier. Compassionate human. The perfect man for the job . And the only man I would have ever wanted to command the company I love on that deployment. You knew what the company needed and you not only provided it, you embodied it. You didn’t just lead Blackfoot, you were Blackfoot. You were a part of all of us and we were a part of you. You were exactly who we needed, and you led exactly as you should. You inspired many back then and you still inspire many today. Especially me.

      Even though it has been so many years since we talked back then, I still feel inspired by your presence every day. I feel your spirit with me and it makes me do better, just like it did back then. On the 6^th of July 2009 your body died but that just served to unleash your spirit in a way that is as powerful as it is eternal. The death of your body couldn’t stop you. It just meant that your presence was no longer limited to a physical location.

I would expect no less from a man I admire so much. And I thank you deeply for your leadership then and your leadership these last 16 years.

Salute to you, Brother Captain. I thank you for your service, Warrior.

And I will continue to work to make you proud.