Fort Bragg husband,
wife become new drill sergeants

by Reginald Rogers
Paraglide

	photo by Reginald Rogers/Paraglide Drill Sergeants Nephoteria and Maurice O’Meally have both completed the Army Drill Sergeants’ course and will soon be reassigned to Fort Jackson, S.C.

Today’s Army has hundreds of married couples and each carries its own identity. For a Fort Bragg couple the Army has afforded them a new identity and a new title — drill sergeant.
Staff Sgts. Maurice and Nephoteria O’Meally recently finished the Drill Sergeant Course at the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant School in Fort Jackson, S.C. and in a matter of weeks, they will travel to their new assignment at the South Carolina post.

The career transition of becoming drill sergeants carries mixed emotions for the couple, who have been married for nearly five years.

While both were Department of the Army selectees, for Maurice, who has spent almost all of his nearly 10 years at Fort Bragg, the decision was met with joy.

“I was pretty happy,” said Maurice. “I’ve been here on Fort Bragg for almost eight years now and I think a change of venue would be nice. I’ve also always wanted to be a drill sergeant. When I was a private, my drill sergeant inspired me, so hopefully, I can do the same for someone else.”
The fact that the couple has a four-year-old son weighed heavily on Nephoteria, who said she realizes how time-consuming drill sergeant duties can be.

“I had mixed emotions because we have a son,” she said. “I didn’t necessarily want the time away from my son taken away, especially since we had just returned from a 15-month deployment. I’ve always wanted to be a drill sergeant, too, but I just feel the timing could have been better.

“I guess these days in the Army, the timing is never right, so we might as well get it over now because I’m still young. I’ve only been in the Army eight years.”
Nephoteria said she was happy that they were able to attend the course at the same time. To make it even better, the couple was actually in the same class.

“It was good because the way I look at it is, if we’ve got to be away, I think as a Family, it’s better for both of us to be away from our son at the same time,” she explained. “So when we’re together, he won’t feel compelled to think, ‘mommy does it this way’ or ‘daddy does it this way.That would confuse him.”

Maurice said he thought sharing the course would be interesting because it gave him an opportunity to see how his wife reacts around other Soldiers.

“I knew it was going to be fun going with her and it didn’t require me to miss any time away from her,” he said.

The O’Meally’s share the same expectations about becoming drill sergeants. Both said they want to make a lasting impression on the civilian recruits who will last far beyond their military career.

“I want them to do the right thing that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, not just for their careers because some will not make the Army a career. I want to make a lastingimpression that they will want to emulate me as they become Soldiers,” said Nephoteria.

She said it was her basic training drill sergeants who initially inspired her, but other leaders whoshe has had while rising through the ranks have also had an impact on her.

“My expectations are to go down there and train privates and make them better people,” explained Maurice. “I like to make people better than what they were when they met me. Even now, when I get Soldiers in, I try to help them out as much as possible.”

He admitted that although he was not the best private, he now realizes what goes on in their mind as they venture into a new world.

“Once you polish them up and make them into something, that makes you have more pride in your job and what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s like taking a piece of clay and molding it into something great.”

Maurice said he thinks it will be fun, yet challenging. For both Soldiers, it was another successful step along their young career paths.

“I plan to use this as a starting point for career progression,” Nephoteria said. “Hopefully, this is setting me up for the next level. Especially for a couple of grades higher, where it will help me develop into a stronger noncommissioned officer and a better person.”

Collectively, the O’Meallys said it’s important for them to value the little time that they will have during their upcoming tour, especially with their son. They said it’s also important to keep other Family members close.

“We’re going to have to build a tight bond with Family,” said Nephoteria, a native of Ludlow, Miss. “It keeps them close to help with our son so he won’t be caught up in the mix and missing out on a lot of things because of our time-consuming jobs. (Their support) will allow us to be successful.”

Nephoteria added that she and her husband would have to rely on each other for motivation throughout their tour.

She said that unlike her husband, she will miss the Fort Bragg community once they depart for Columbia, S.C.

“It’s a sad separation because we’ve both been at Bragg now for our entire careers,” said Nephoteria, who’s assigned to the 18th Human Resource Company, 189th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion. “He did a year in Korea, but I’ve been here close to eight years and I don’t know anything else. Now I’m going to a new turf and a whole new ballgame, so hopefully I’ll enjoy it, but I like Bragg. I’ve always liked Fort Bragg. I’m a Bragg baby.”