Five of a kind: Area soldiers return from shared tour in Afghanistan

Just days before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, five of McKinney's own returned home from fighting the War on Terror that tragic day started.

The Texas Army National Guard Agribusiness Development Team (ADT)-IV landed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Sept. 1, after a year-long tour in Ghazni, Afghanistan. McKinney high school graduates Tracy Coe, Todd Bates, Chris Kellner, Dustin Clark and Christopher Horvath served together in the unit, which since August 2010, fought terror with a different method -- agricultural development.

"A lot of times, guys over there don't have many choices of how they're going to support themselves and their families," said Staff Sgt. Coe, the oldest of the McKinney group. "They end up doing the grunt work for the Taliban not because of ideological motives but because they need the money."

The special unit spent the last year in the Afghan city conducting sustainable agricultural and economic development in order to increase the competency and capacity of the traditional institutions in the Ghazi Province. They worked closely with Afghan governmental representatives to mentor them in projects focused on improving the area's irrigation and horticulture.

Texas ADT-IV included staff members like Coe who provided the operational planning for agricultural development in the area, as well as a security team that protected the process. The other four soldiers from McKinney were part of that security force, called a SECFOR.

The five soldiers' high school graduation dates span between the Class of 2000 and Class of 2005. Coe joined the National Guard first, in May 2001, a year after he graduated from McKinney High School and months before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

"I joined strictly out of patriotism," he said. "I thought if I was ever needed, I'd be there, and lo and behold, I was needed."

Coe completed his first tour from January to December of 2005 in Iraq. He served as infantry on that tour and on a second tour in Iraq, and witnessed the fruits of his labor in a foreign land.

"I got to see all the positive things that have happened in Iraq," he said. "You see how much progress has been made. The fact that we're actually making a difference is awesome."

But his continuous service overseas forced Coe away from the life he's finally come home to. Right before his first deployment, he linked back up with Lauren, a fellow McKinney High grad, and the two got engaged on leave during his first tour. Their first daughter, Addison, was born two and a half years ago, and their second daughter, Annie, will have her first birthday this weekend.

"She was born while I was in Indiana," Coe said. "I flew home to see her born, and three days later, I left."

He traveled to Ghazni as part of the planning staff and basically shared with another soldier in his unit an experience other than their common hometown. Bates was serving in Afghanistan when his wife, Ashley, another McKinney High graduate, had a daughter.

"It's good motivation," Coe said. "It was hard seeing pictures and videos of them getting bigger. (Annie) started talking while I was gone and was already crawling before I got back. That was the best part about coming home -- seeing my girls."

Because Coe was on staff while the other McKinney soldiers were part of the security force, he said they bonded more with each other than with him. He still recognized the camaraderie among soldiers, no matter the unit in which they serve.

"Every tour you go on, you meet a person that's going to be a lifelong friend," he said. "That's something you don't lose years later."

Coe plans to enter Officer Candidate School (OCS), an 18-month program through which he will become a commissioned officer in the Texas Army National Guard. That won't begin until next year, though, so Coe will remain at home for the longest stretch of time since he first enlisted 10 years ago.

He and the other four McKinney soldiers returned home together. Some are years apart, but their roots are linked.

And they now know their mutual sacrifice is appreciated.

"One of the things I love is when you come back to the airports, you still see so many people come out to support the soldiers coming home," Coe said. "You still have that going on after all these years. That's amazing."

For more information about Texas ADT-IV, visit www.txadtblog.com.

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...