TRACY, Calif. –
Army Sgt. 1st Class Kwesi Hackette was promoted to the rank of Master Sgt. during a late morning ceremony at Defense Logistics Agency Distribution San Joaquin, California, June 5 in the company of a small group of family and co-workers. Hackette serves as the Operations and Installation non-commissioned officer in charge.
Former Operations Officer Army Lt. Col. Grant Thimsen presided over the promotion ceremony and Hackette’s wife Esther placed the new rank insignia on his uniform.
Hackette was proud to share his promotion with his family and co-workers. He went on to thank his family for their support of his Army career and spoke of his military career at DDJC.
He spoke about his time being re-assigned to the Consolidation and Containerization Point’s Track 10. He was to assist with the organization and clean-up that was estimated to take six to nine months; however, they were able to complete the project in just three months.
“I’m proud to be leading a different type of troops here at DDJC to accomplish the mission of accurately shipping dozens of seavans of material on a monthly basis to our warfighters in the Pacific,” said Hackette. “It’s not an impossible task, but our employees are doing a great job with my guidance and direction.”
Hackette was born in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and raised in the Caribbean and Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Overlea High School in Baltimore and joined the U.S. Army in 2003. He completed basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia and advanced individual training in Fort Lee, Virginia.
His assignments and deployments include Supply Specialist at 507th Infantry Battalion, 173 Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy from 2003 – 2005, in which he also deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq in 2004. Supply Sergeant at the 3rd Basic Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri from 2005 – 2008. Movement Control NNCO and Transportation Management Supervisor at Camp Henry, South Korea from 2008 – 2011. Grounds Movements NCO, Senior Movements NCO, Operations Sergeant and Senior Movements Supervisor at Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany, in which he also deployed to Turkey and Afghanistan. While on deployment he served as the Ground Movements NCO and Senior Movements Supervisor. Transportation Logistics NCO and Senior Movements NCO at the 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC from 2013 – 2017.
His personal decorations include the Army Commendation Medal (6th award), Army Achievement Medal (4th award), Army Good Conduct Medal (5th award), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with campaign star), Iraq Campaign Medal (with two campaign stars), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (3rd award), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (4th award), NATO Medal, and the Parachute Badge.