203rd BSB Cook Promises Army Three More Years

Spc. Danielle Cobbert, from Birmingham, Ala., a food service specialist in the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, re-enlists in the back of a refrigeration truck Oct. 17 at FOB Hammer.

3RD HBCT, 3RD INF. DIV.
FOB HAMMER – October 17 marked a signif cant date for Spc. Danielle Cobbert. With her five-year contract nearing its end, Cobbert, a food service specialist in the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, raised her right hand and made a commitment to the Army and to continue her education.

Cobbert is currently going to school through the Army and said she needs more time to get her degree. “The Army is not just a job, it’s helping me get my computer programming degree,” she said. “The Army provides great tuition assistance and when it is time (to leave the Army) I will have something to fall back on.”

Cobbert said she joined the military because she felt she wasn’t ready for college after high school. “I didn’t think college was for me,” she said. “I wasn’t in the right frame of mind so I did the next best thing and joined the Army. The Army would pay for me to go to college when I was ready.”

While her passion is computer programming, Cobbert explained her decision to join as a food service specialist was based primarily on the bonuses the Army offered for the job at the time.

Cobbert also explained the Army gave her a choice of her next duty station following her redeployment scheduled for June 2008. She plans to move to Fort Lee, N.J.

“I discussed it with my husband and we both like the east coast. We decided we both want to stay there,” Cobbert said.

The re-enlistment ceremony took place in a refrigeration truck because Cobbert said she just needed a stage, and being a cook, the truck was a logical and available solution.

“I wanted it to have a stage-like appearance,” Cobbert said. “That way I can have the audience all around me and they could all see me re-enlist.” Cobbert said she does not know at this time if she will make the military a career, but while serving she will utilize the Army’s help in getting her degree in computer programming.

To some leaders in the battalion, Cobbert’s departure would be a huge loss to the Army. Command Sgt. Maj. Stevie Burch, from Sylvester, Ga., 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, recalled the first time he spoke to Cobbert and told her she would be working in the Post Exchange on FOB Hammer instead of in the dining facility.

“She had a ‘git ‘r done’ attitude right from the start,” Burch said. “When I told her she would be working in the PX, she told me ‘whatever it is you want me to do, I’ll get it done sergeant major.’ She came here ready for advancement and we will be sending her to the promotion board real soon.