Fulton 'soldier mom' reservist honored for achievements
Terry Hart of Fulton is a 29 year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves is the top warrant officer award recipient given to her by the Reserve Officers Association recognizing her civilian and military service. Hart also did a tour of Afghanistan and Iraq
Kent Porter / Press DemocratPublished: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 4:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 4:18 p.m.
Terry Hart puts in long hours at her office at the Mare Island Army Reserve Center.
“My husband complains about it all the time,” said Hart, 48, a mother of four, former Boy Scout leader and church youth group volunteer.
But her job, she said, is “taking care of soldiers” and she admits, “I take it pretty seriously.”
“I can't go home knowing something is hanging out there and a soldier isn't taken care of,” said Hart, a chief warrant officer who's spent 28 years in the Army Reserves.
The 60,000-member Reserve Officers Association, which represents officers and warrant officers of all the uniformed services, thinks highly of the job Hart does, too. At the association's national convention in Washington, D.C., Hart was summoned to the stage along with five other finalists for outstanding warrant officer of the year award.
Retired Air Force Col. Walker M. Williams III, president of the association,
“I had no idea that it would be me,” Hart said. “I know what I've accomplished. I had no idea what the other finalists' experiences were.”
Warrant officers are the military's “technical experts,” Hart said, positioned between enlisted service members and officers.
Hart, who joined the Army Reserves in 1983, became a warrant officer in 1998 and started out in personnel. She switched to “property accounting,” which basically means logistics, Hart said.
Since 2008
That's her Reserves job. Her regular, fulltime job is senior supervisor — as a civilian employee — working for the same unit.
In 2007-08, Hart handled logistics, what the military calls handling “the property book,” for a task force at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and Balad Air Base in Iraq.
Just what Hart did she's not allowed to say, but she described it as “a pretty intense workload” that engaged her for 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
There were diversions on the bases, such as restaurants, movie theaters and gyms, but Hart said that keeping busy helped the time go by quicker.
Hart received a Bronze Star for her “meritorious achievement” in support of “sustained combat operations.”
Ray Hart, who owns a plumbing business, said his wife downplays her professional effort. “She's really modest,” he said. “She just thinks of it as part of her job.”
The Harts, married almost 24 years, have four grown children and two grandchildren. When the four boys were younger, Terry Hart served as a Scouting leader for about 12 years, including several 50-mile backpacking trips in the Sierra, as well as family camping trips to Yosemite and Mount Lassen.
She also volunteered with youth groups at Spring Hills Community Church in Fulton.
That's about all she's had time for, Hart said.
“The Army's been my life for the last 28 years.”
You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.
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