This issue’s Deuce Boy is PFC Larry Rutherford from Fort Wayne, Indiana. PFC Rutherford serves in Bushmaster company as a M240 Machine Gunner. He was born and raised in Fort Wayne and grew up loving and playing sports. “I have always loved sports, especially football and basketball. Watching, playing, or even talking about sports has always made me happy and brought people around me together.”
Larry went to college for one semester at University of Saint Francis on an academic scholarship. “I liked it at St. Francis, but I knew I needed to do something different. That is when I chose to leave and go to the Military. I knew that I needed something more with my life.”
Larry originally wanted to go into the Marine Corps before choosing to go into the Army Infantry. “I wanted to go into the corps, but I had a boss who was a former Infantryman in the Army who pushed me towards it. I didn’t know anything about the infantry or what it was, but I knew my boss wouldn’t point me in the wrong way.”
Larry would learn quick about the Infantry at Fort Benning Georgia for Infantry OSUT (One Station Unit Training). Upon graduation, he was sent to Fort Drum New York to 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment. When 1st Brigade 10th Mountain Division (MTN DIV) got orders to Afghanistan, he volunteered to be transferred to 2nd Battalion 22nd Infantry in order to deploy.
When he rived at “Triple Deuce” he was sent to Bushmaster Company. There he trained up for deployment and was sent out to Afghanistan. “I didn’t know what the heck was going on, I was still a private. Just shut up and do what your told.”
Upon arriving in Afghanistan, the Covid-19 Pandemic was affecting operations. PFC Rutherford was stuck in quarantine and then would be sent to an outpost (we will not mention the outpost in this article, we will call it SV) were he would do another round of quarantine. “My first four weeks in Afghanistan I was in quarantine. I thought, this is war? I just sit here.”
Eventually PFC Rutherford would be released from quarantine and served with the Sniper section as a M249 SAW Gunner in the Menehune Squad. Being a new soldier, he had a lot to learn and at first was very timid. “I’m a bigger guy, so they handed me the SAW.” At first, he did not like the SAW but eventually came to love it and what being a SAW gunner entailed. “It was quickly impressed upon me how important the SAW was to the function of our squad. I learned that ‘The SAW is the Law’ and that gave me a lot of pride in the job.”
PFC Rutherford quickly befriended the Romanian counterparts to the American forces at SV. “We worked with a lot of Romanians and in the beginning of the deployment I didn’t know how to handle them since they were so much different then us. After working with them a lot we became friends and had a lot of fun together.”
Along with being a Squad Automatic Rifleman, Larry worked the entry control points (ECPs) at the outpost. He worked directly with brining in Afghan workers and special operation personnel to work on the outpost. Part of that was being part of a Decontamination team. PFC Rutherford served on Decontamination Initial Response Team Yankee (DIRTY Boys) to help the outpost combat Covid. “I never thought I would be working on deployment with fighting a pandemic, but you don’t get to choose the what’s and whys when your over there I guess,”
All the infantrymen at SV would compete in the first Michael Ollis competition. This competition started with the Army’s new physical fitness test (ACFT). The competition would continue to grade soldiers under stress on basic weapon, patrol, and medical tasks. The competition would end with a board that asked questions on unit history, weapons, medical, and patrolling tasks. The board also required soldiers to talk about the life of SSG Michael Ollis and recite the Soldiers’ and 22nd Infantry Creed.
Though the competition was close between two candidates, PFC Larry Rutherford came out on top. “It was really at this competition that I began becoming proud of my unit (The 2-22IN).” he said, “I had to learn it’s history to compete, and it really made me reflect on those who came before me.”
This would not be the only time soldiers in the Menehune squad learned and reflected on the sacrifice those who came before them made. In their QRF (Quick Reaction Force) office they had put up a “Wall of Honor” that had pictures of all the soldiers from the Global War on Terror who had given their lives for this country. Each week one of the soldiers in the squad was required to make a workout in honor of one of these heroes, tell their story, and pin their picture on the wall.
Upon returning from Afghanistan PFC Rutherford would go back to Bushmaster Company where he is now a M240 Machine Gunner. His goals in the military are to go to Air Assault School and to try to deploy again. When he eventually gets out of the service, he plans to pursue his degree and become a fire fighter.
Thank you, PFC Larry Rutherford, for your service to this nation, and specially in the 22nd Infantry. Thank you to all those who have answered our nations call in our great regiment. Deeds not Words.
We at the Double Deucer feature both active and veteran soldiers of the 22nd Infantry Regiment in our articles and on our social media platforms. WE WANT YOUR STORY AND TO FEATURE YOU!! Please email us at thedoubledeucer22@gmail.com, or direct message us on Instagram or Facebook. We will send you a form and you could be the next Deuce Boy Feature! Deeds!
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