Lt. Col. Michael Rauhut, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division's 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry, ties a 90-day "zero alcohol incidents" banner to Company E's flag at Camp Casey, South Korea, on Monday. (Erik Slavin / S&S)
CAMP CASEY, South Korea — Easy Company soldiers say recent history made Monday’s ceremony to celebrate 90 days without an alcohol-related offense far more meaningful.
The engineering company from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry came under unwanted scrutiny in January when one of their own did the unthinkable: Pvt. Geronimo Ramirez raped an elderly woman in Seoul while heavily intoxicated.
“He liked to drink, but that was a complete surprise. We were shocked,” said Pfc. Sean Collins, who was in Ramirez’s squad.
The incident made national headlines. It also focused the company’s soldiers on preventing other alcohol-related incidents.
That peer-driven focus remains, soldiers said Monday.
In its policy, the division “highly encourages,” but doesn’t mandate, that soldiers take a friend with them when they go off base — something they call a “battle buddy.” Ramirez’s buddy fell asleep in a hotel that night, and Ramirez went back out drinking before raping the woman, according to court testimony.
Company E soldiers say that isn’t likely to happen again.
Although not mandatory, it would be highly irregular for the company’s soldiers to leave post without at least one sober battle buddy who has no record of alcohol-related incidents, said company 1st Sgt. John Stach.
Soldiers often will go out in groups of six or more, said Pfc. Michael Gawel.
Gawel described the company as relatively small and close-knit. When he drinks, he listens to the sober soldiers in the group — as Collins and Pfc. Steve Niemers confirmed.
“What I say goes,” Niemers said. “Because it’s [my] fault if they get in trouble.”
Niemers often plays the role that company commander Capt. Joseph Smith called the “designated decision-maker.”
Smith said he heard about a moment last week when two soldiers who had been drinking weren’t ready to leave a bar, but the decision-maker said it was time.
The drinkers complied.
“They don’t have to be yelled at to do the right thing,” Smith said. “They police each other.”
Smith, who took over company command shortly after the Ramirez incident, was working in South Korea at higher headquarters when South Korean police arrested Ramirez.
“The company had a good discipline record when it happened,” Smith said. “It left an indelible mark on all of them.”
Although the company now places a great deal of emphasis on avoiding trouble and providing activities for soldiers, Smith said he doesn’t think the company is doing anything drastically different from other units.
“I think we just have a good group of soldiers,” Smith said.
