Remembering Sarn't Mac

“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name.” - Hemingway

I’ve seen the above quote a lot recently and it’s stirred something in me that I need to do my part in ensuring the stories are told and the names live on…

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SFC David McDowell – Killed in Action on April 29th, 2008 - Afghanistan.

https://www.soc.mil/Memorial%20Wall/Bios/McDowell_David.pdf

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I’ll share a story of “Sarn’t Mac” many don’t know -

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During my last days in the Army, I spent a lot of time on either CQ or Staff Duty. This one particular CQ shift I got a late evening call from Fort Lewis - Military Police (MPs) and they had one of our Rangers detained - who was caught in an alcohol related incident, underage. In my mind as I am listening to the MP, my heart sank, all I could think about is how this young Rangers poor decision is going to impact his military career - on top of a couple expletives I shared internally with myself, the Battalion was just weeks away to head out for another rotation in the Global War, now in my mind, his platoon/team will be short one Ranger in an already undermanned organization. Those of you not familiar with Ranger Regiment and its high standards must understand that the Regiment is one of the few units in the Army that can and will kick you out of the organization for failing to meet standards. It’s called RFS (Release for Standards) and Regiment has about a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol related incidents.

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I didn’t personally know the Ranger being detained but I did know of him, and which platoon he was assigned too, it so happened to be McDowell’s platoon. The MP emphasized he would only release the Ranger if an E7 (Sergeant First Class) or higher came to retrieve him, I was only an E5 (Sergeant). I hung up with the MPs and paced around the CQ desk thinking of what next. Finally, I mustered the courage to call McDowell and let him know one of his Rangers was being held by the MPs. Approx 30min later or so - I hear the farthest back entrance swing open and I peek down the hallway and catch a quick glimpse of someone resembling the young Ranger in a full sprint up the rear stairwell. Not more than a minute passes, McDowell and one of his squad leaders come through the main rear entrance. The squad leader heads upstairs while McDowell and I debrief; I can hear the squad leader on the 3rd floor - reprimanding the young Ranger and doling out some ‘corrective training’. McDowell heads up to the 3rd floor and shortly after all three come down in full field uniform and rucksacks. The young Ranger was also carrying something in his hands, I can’t recall with certainty, but I believe it was two weighted ammo cans in each hand. The young Ranger was in for some old school punishment, along with his squad leader and McDowell sharing in the pain of a forced march. You see, ruck marching is not some leisurely activity in the military, it can be a real gut check. Selection programs use the ruck march as part of the weeding-out process. We used to call the old green Alice packs the “green tick”, it just sucks the life out of you. The three returned in the wee hours of the morning covered in sweat.

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I share this story as testament of the type of character and Ranger leader McDowell was. One of his guys made a mistake and McDowell chose to bear the responsibility of the mistake. McDowell taught a lesson that evening.

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So, what happened to that young Ranger? He was one of the few who did not get RSF’ed. I saw an older picture on a social media post not long ago – I recognized the Ranger in his combat uniform and on his uniform, he had a call-sign patch indicating he was in a leadership position, which demonstrated he had success in developing his career further in the Regiment.

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One for the Airborne Ranger in the Sky! Never Forgotten. RLTW! <2>