CHINO VALLEY, AZ, USA U.S. Army SFC, 562D ENG CO, 2 SBCT, FORT LEWIS, WA 06/12/2012, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
Thank you everyone for, attending to remember and pay tribute to a person full of so much life. Every time his image comes into my mind, it’s Sergeant McNabb with a big smile. Most people have to make a conscientious decision to smile, it seemed like Sergeant McNabb had to force himself to not smile. He had the uncanny ability to break the tension by making a subtle witty comment that would cause everyone to step back out of the immediate situation and reevaluate.
It was this same sharp mind that made him a tremendous asset to my team as a squad leader. He was a critical outside the box thinker. Never accepting the status quo. If there was an issue that our platoon was facing, I could always depend on him to bring up that issue without hesitation. Along with bringing a problem he always had a solution that would’ve never come across my mind.
Once we would discuss his idea in our team meeting, Sergeant McNabb would go beyond mere words by just proposing the solution but take action to pursue a resolution to the issue with absolute determination. The specific example that comes to mind is him identifying the need to put an interrogation robot in his vehicle as it was our primary interrogation vehicle and needed to have a robot at its disposal. Sergeant McNabb brought up the solution of switching the entire RDS system from another vehicle type to his vehicle. He got with mechanics about the idea and when they expressed concern about the resources and knowledge base to get the job done, sergeant Mcnabb set about with his usual zeal and started gathering pictures of same vehicle type with RDS systems, calling individuals, and trying to locate pieces at KAF. Unfortunately he could not complete the project.
He needed that drive and can-do positive attitude every week it seemed, as no matter what vehicle he would TC, something completely random would wrong with it. We used to joke that it was his awesome stash causing him all the trouble. He would reply back with his usual wit that, “we all needed to grow stashes because his alone couldn’t sustain the burden of keeping the platoon going.”
Then again maybe it was the stash that contributed to his awesome athleticism. While he performed exceptionally well every day for our platoon PT sessions, he really shined on sport days, especially Dodge ball. Unless you caught him off guard, you knew if you tried to hit him, the ball was going to get caught and you better get ready for that cannon ball to come right back.
Sergeant McNabb your exceptional performance, creative mind, and love or life personality will be dearly missed. Wherever you are, may you keep watching out for the platoon with the same care you did when you were with us. As long as there is breath in our lungs, you will forever live on in our hearts.
Rest in Peace.