Posted: 5/31/07
Guard captain from Princeton receives leadership honor
By Joel Stottrup
Captain Scott Rohweder of Princeton, stationed in Iraq, is one of seven commissioned officers in the National Guard to receive the Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award for 2006.
These seven are among 28 total in the military getting that honor for 2006.
Rohweder recently met President George W. Bush in the White House's oval office, May 18 to receive Bush's congratulations on the honor.
Rohweder met his family—wife Tami and their children Tyler, 12, and Emily 11—at the capitol for the MacArthur Leadership awards ceremony May 16 at the Pentagon in nearby Virginia.
Tami's flight was paid as part of her husband being honored. Each of the recipients received a bronze bust about a foot high of MacArthur, a famous general who served in the Pacific Theater in World War II.
Joining the family in Washington, D.C., for the occasion was Scott's parents James and Janice Rohweder and Scott's sister Robyn Herold, all three of Proctor.
James Rohweder had served in Vietnam and the Vietnam Memorial at the capital was a special part of the sightseeing for him, Tami said.
The MacArther award was established in 1987, to recognize company grade officers who demonstrate the ideals that Gen. MacArthur stood for—duty, honor and country, according to the U.S. Army's web site.
Rohweder, however, is quoted in a story by Guard soldier Spc. Dustin Perry with the public affairs office at Camp Adder as saying that most of the accolades should go to a "larger group of people," rather than him.
The quote from Rohweder continues: "I look at this as something that goes to all the soldiers that I've had the opportunity to serve with, because without them, I couldn't have done it. Without their guidance and leadership, there's no way I could be where I'm at today. This award is more for what they've done rather than what I've done."
Rohweder is the commander of Echo Company, of the Moorhead-based 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment.
He is with the large group of Minnesota National Guard members who were deployed to Iraq in March 2006.
The Minnesota soldiers first spent six months training in Mississippi. They were originally scheduled to return stateside this past March but the federal government in January extended their tour until this coming August.
Echo Company, which Rohweder heads, largely consists of soldiers who conduct convoy logistic patrols to escort supply trucks to bases throughout Iraq, according to Tami and the story by Spc. Perry.
Lt. Col. William Lieder, battalion commander of the Stillwater-based First Brigade Troops Battalion, 34th Infantry Brigade, was mulling over in January who to choose for the MacArthur award from among eight company commanders in the 1/136th attached to Lieder's battalion.
Perry's story quotes Lieder saying that Rohweder's leadership is what impressed him the most about Rohweder.
Among the accomplishments Rohweder was recognized for included serving in Bosnia for 10 months. He was part of a group doing construction and humanitarian-aid projects.
Away from the military, Rohweder works as a project manager for Kelington Construction in Osseo. He has also been a volunteer coach for Princeton Youth Hockey Association.
Major Christopher Lindberg, executive officer of the battalion and who documented Rohweder's past work, said that it has been "amazing to watch" Rohweder's soldiers perform their mission on a daily basis with a "high level of precision, based upon the leadership and guidance he gives them on a routine basis."
Tami Rohweder, speaking to the Union-Eagle last Thursday, said that her husband had described the ceremony at the Pentagon and meeting the president as a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."
She said that one of Scott's ways of making soldiers in his company feel good when they excel at something, is to give them a coin that is made specifically for his unit.
Handing out coins like that is an army tradition, Tami said, and Scott received some from generals attending the awards ceremony at the Pentagon and also received one of the official presidential coins.
"That was great," she said of the whole experience. It included a tour of the Pentagon and seeing where the jet crashed into the building during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
A chapel has been set up in that location since in honor of the people who lost their lives there that day.
Tami also noted that Scott's picture will now be permanently displayed with the photos of other recipients of the MacArthur Leadership award.
Tami, speaking about Scott's duties in Iraq, said that for a time he had been part of a Rapid Relay Point, or satellite base for soldiers to rapidly respond to areas where improvised explosive devices (IEDs) set by the insurgents, had blown up.
"He's a natural leader," Tami said of her husband. "His soldiers love him. He excels at everything he does. He is very confident in every situation."
The last time Scott's family had seen him prior to the Washington, D.C. trip was during a two-week break last December.
Tami, who works in the staffing department at Fairview Medical Center, said Scott loves the military and she doesn't think he will leave the National Guard early.
Does she worry about him being over in Iraq?
"I do worry about him," she answered, "especially as a convoy escort. There are a lot of IEDs. Things happen, all sorts of scary things."
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