TF Duke infantryman doubles as COP mayor

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – He’s never had to take a platform to the voters, deal with critical press coverage or balance the books at City Hall. But, as mayor of Combat Outpost Deh Yak, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Wesley Shealey has more in common with his civilian counterparts than most people know.

Both work to ensure the safety and health of their communities, provide recreational opportunities and facilitate orderly traffic flow. The big difference is that Shealey governs in eastern Afghanistan and not Main Street, U.S.A.

Shealey, an infantryman assigned to the Fort Knox, Ky.-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, is serving a one-year deployment that began in January.

Less than a week into his tour, the Jacksonville, Fla., native was designated by his superiors to be the COP Deh Yak mayor, largely because he possessed the initiative and personality needed to not only interact with locals, but also with Soldiers seeking answers to numerous problems.
 
He’s balancing his new mayoral duties alongside his regular job as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the company’s operations intelligence team.

“I’m still only getting one paycheck,” he joked.

The duties he is entrusted with as mayor are a fulltime job in their own right. Having days off like a civilian mayor is a luxury he hasn’t enjoyed yet, largely due to the upkeep of life support systems like plumbing and electrical on which his Soldierly constituents depend. It’s a testament to Shealey’s abilities that his superiors felt he was the right man for the position.

“The COP mayor is a jack-of-all-trades with one of the most important positions on any installation,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Michael Berry, Company C, 2nd Bn., 2nd Inf., and a native of Columbia, S.C.

Berry, and U.S. Army Capt. Michael Carrion of Bell Buckle, Tenn., Co. C’s commander, receive a daily report from Shealey summarizing outstanding COP issues.

Those concerns include the necessity of maintaining adequate fuel resources that are needed to keep all tactical operations at the COP functioning seamlessly.

“You can’t survive without it,” Berry said of Shealey’s role.

As for his other mayoral duties, name the civilian equivalent and odds are good Shealey is doing it.

Waste water and fresh water concerns? He purifies and regularly tests the non-potable water used by Soldiers for personal hygiene, and stages bottled water across the COP for drinking.

Fire prevention? He maintains fire control measures and equipment near the many fuel points, which have pumps that require his new generator mechanic skills.

Shealey even dabbles with police-type work; ensuring local workers are properly escorted around the COP and Jinga trucks making deliveries follow COP traffic regulations.

Shealey even manages to supervise the Morale, Welfare and Recreation center, acquires new fitness equipment and assists with other morale issues.

For Soldiers deployed to a distant, isolated location such as Afghanistan, those other issues often come down to receiving letters and packages from home. The mayor helps sort the mail and puts the word out when it arrives, but even he’s not a miracle worker when it comes to the post office.

“Mail is a little slow, with some letters taking a month to get here. It’s one of the biggest issues,” said Shealey.

All of these daily tasks are accomplished with only one fulltime assistant, U.S. Army Spc. Victor Garcia, a Co. C infantryman from Denver, Colo., who knew Shealey long before the present deployment.

“He was one of the first mentors I had at Fort Knox,” Garcia said.

Effectively governing COP Deh Yak and developing young Soldiers into leaders are his main professional obligations, but a planned retirement from the Army is also on the horizon.

Shealey may even resume his civilian career as a paramedic, a position he held during a break in military service from 1999-2003.

His wife Alisha is a nurse and they have three sons who range in age from 5 to 9, all of whom probably look forward to Shealey switching to the hats of husband and father.

The chance to have made a positive contribution for his community and its residents is important to Shealey, as it should be to any mayor.

Still, his most enduring legacy might be how well COP Deh Yak could function in his absence, a scenario only made possible by a mayor who cared enough to share his knowledge and concern for the common good with those who may one day walk in his own or similar shoes.

If that’s the case, Mayor Shealey may be heading for a landslide victory.

“Everything that he does, I’m able to do it if he’s away because of his training and coaching,” said Garcia.