Fort Bliss Monitor

5035th says farewell to former HHD commander

Sgt. Nikki Agee
5035th GSU Public Affairs

WILSON RIVERA
Capt. Deliris Montanez assists 1st Sgt. Bryan Gilmore, first sergeant, 647th medical retention processing unit, while reading that he received a Camino Real Hotel stay pakage during the 5035th Hail and Farewell ceremonies secret Santa give away.

Soldiers of the 5035th Garrison Support Unit recently said farewell to the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment commander who helped lead the unit through its first two-year mobilization at Fort Bliss.

Capt. Deliris Montanez, who relinquished command of the 5035th HHD last month during a change of command ceremony, has taken a position as a supply and logistics officer with the 647th Area Support Group at Ascarate Park.

“I have been in the 5035th for five years, and I think I have achieved what I wanted to achieve in the 5035th, career-wise,” said Montanez. “What I will hate the most about leaving the 5035th is leaving the Soldiers because the Soldiers will do anything for you, and the mission will get accomplished as long as you give them the respect that they deserve.”

While on active duty, Montanez and her unit worked 12- to 14-hour days on weekends to train and deploy Soldiers and to ensure redeploying Soldiers resolved personal issues and returned home safely. As an additional duty, Montanez was also tasked with command and control of all medical detachment holds, leading as many as 250 Soldiers – both 5035th unit members and medical hold Soldiers.

The task of commanding extra Soldiers was additionally challenging, Montanez said, because at the time of mobilization, the 5035th HHD section had only seven members and other sections of the 5035th GSU had their own missions to perform on post.

Despite the challenges, Montanez said she learned a lot and found the experience of being HHD commander gratifying.

“Being the HHD commander made me a better person because you actually enter the ranks of being a Soldier. Being a commander to me is actually better to me than being a staff officer because whenever you are a staff officer, you are meeting deadlines, and the only thing you worry about is training readiness and support,” said Montanez. “When you are a commander, you deal more with personal issues that individuals have. These could be family problems, they could be financial problems, they could be work-related problems, and as a staff officer you don’t get a chance to deal with them,”

Montanez is a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico. Before relocating to El Paso in 2001, she served as a platoon leader for the 824th Quartermaster Company (Aerial Delivery) in Fort Bragg, N.C., and as a special projects officer for the 171st Area Support Group in Garner. As part of the 5035th GSU, Montanez also served as the plans, operations and training officer, the assistant training officer and the unit movement branch transportation officer. Her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (fourth award), National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Bronze Hourglass and “M” Device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon (fourth award) and the Parachutist, Rigger and Belgium Parachutist Badges.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	May 19, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	5035th says farewell to former HHD commander Sgt. Nikki Agee 5035th GSU Public Affairs WILSON RIVERA Capt. Deliris Montanez assists 1st Sgt. Bryan Gilmore, first sergeant, 647th medical retention processing unit, while reading that he received a Camino Real Hotel stay pakage during the 5035th Hail and Farewell ceremonies secret Santa give away. Soldiers of the 5035th Garrison Support Unit recently said farewell to the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment commander who helped lead the unit through its first two-year mobilization at Fort Bliss. Capt. Deliris Montanez, who relinquished command of the 5035th HHD last month during a change of command ceremony, has taken a position as a supply and logistics officer with the 647th Area Support Group at Ascarate Park. “I have been in the 5035th for five years, and I think I have achieved what I wanted to achieve in the 5035th, career-wise,” said Montanez. “What I will hate the most about leaving the 5035th is leaving the Soldiers because the Soldiers will do anything for you, and the mission will get accomplished as long as you give them the respect that they deserve.” While on active duty, Montanez and her unit worked 12- to 14-hour days on weekends to train and deploy Soldiers and to ensure redeploying Soldiers resolved personal issues and returned home safely. As an additional duty, Montanez was also tasked with command and control of all medical detachment holds, leading as many as 250 Soldiers – both 5035th unit members and medical hold Soldiers. The task of commanding extra Soldiers was additionally challenging, Montanez said, because at the time of mobilization, the 5035th HHD section had only seven members and other sections of the 5035th GSU had their own missions to perform on post. Despite the challenges, Montanez said she learned a lot and found the experience of being HHD commander gratifying. “Being the HHD commander made me a better person because you actually enter the ranks of being a Soldier. Being a commander to me is actually better to me than being a staff officer because whenever you are a staff officer, you are meeting deadlines, and the only thing you worry about is training readiness and support,” said Montanez. “When you are a commander, you deal more with personal issues that individuals have. These could be family problems, they could be financial problems, they could be work-related problems, and as a staff officer you don’t get a chance to deal with them,” Montanez is a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico. Before relocating to El Paso in 2001, she served as a platoon leader for the 824th Quartermaster Company (Aerial Delivery) in Fort Bragg, N.C., and as a special projects officer for the 171st Area Support Group in Garner. As part of the 5035th GSU, Montanez also served as the plans, operations and training officer, the assistant training officer and the unit movement branch transportation officer. Her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (fourth award), National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Bronze Hourglass and “M” Device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon (fourth award) and the Parachutist, Rigger and Belgium Parachutist Badges.