Hanning graduates from Academy

    MONTICELLO — Master Sgt. Darrell A. Hanning, a Monticello native, graduated the United States Army Sergeant’s Major Academy on July 27 at Ft. Bliss, Texas. The academy is acknowledged by military and civilian organizations as the premier Noncommissioned Officer education institution in the world in educating current and future leaders.
contributed photo
PROMOTED — Master Sgt. Darrell A. Hanning, a Monticello native, graduated from the United States Army Sergeant’s Major Academy on July 27 at Ft. Bliss, Texas.
    Some of its guiding principles are to: serve as a conscience and voice of the NCO Corps; and serving the Army in the field. The course entailed two years of correspondence courses and two weeks of residence phase from July 13-27. Hanning has 19 years of active military service (4-1/2 years active Army/ 15 years active National Guard). He enlisted in the Army prior to Desert Storm and served a three-year tour in Germany. He was deployed for nine months in Iraq.
    “I was honorably discharged from the regular Army as a corporal and took a year off from serving,” Hanning said. “A few months after my second son (Andrew) was born, I joined the National Guard at the Houlton Armory with B Btry 1-152 Field Artillery Battery. One month after joining I became the full time supply sergeant at B-Btry.
    While at B-Btry, my supervisor 1st Sgt. (Retired) Philip Cloney assisted me in ensuring that my military schools stayed caught up and ahead of my peers. I went to Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic Non-Commissioned Officers Course, and Advanced Non-Commissioned Officers Course.  Before leaving B-Btry obtained the rank of (SSG) Staff Sergeant.”
    He was then promoted to battalion supply sergeant as a Sgt. 1st Class for the 1-152FA Headquarters in Caribou, and served there for three years.
    In 2005, Hanning was again promoted to his current assignment in Bangor, as the Senior Logistician at the 52nd Troop Command (Brigade Headquarters) that is the higher headquarters for the 521st and 286th Battalions.  Two months after being in this position, I volunteered to deploy with the 240th Engineer Group in Augusta as the Brigade Supply Sergeant in CTF (Combined Task Force Chamberlain) in Afghanistan.
     “It was in Afghanistan that 15 years of technical and tactical training was put to the test,” he said. “Our Brigade Headquarters owned all construction projects, to include the building of orphanages/roads, road clearance of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and de-mining in RC-East. Our subordinates were two 82nd Airborne Engineer Battalions, and the Polish and Korean Coalition Forces. One of the highlights of my deployment was the coordinated effort of getting a Bailey Bridge from Italy to Afghanistan, transporting it by convoy half way across the country through Jalalabad (Bin Laden’s home town), and placing it in the mountains of the Pesh River Valley. We successfully emplaced the bridge and it was the first Bailey Bridge emplaced since WWII and I had the privilege of having a piece in it. That bridge allowed us to get further into the mountains to search out and destroy the Taliban.”
    For the future, Hanning’s plan is to retire with at least 24 years Active Military Service in Houlton. Along with traveling back and forth to Bangor almost every day, he also owns a recently started firewood business, and a snow plowing business.
    Awards for service include: The Bronze Star, two Army Accommendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, four Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defensive medal with Bronze Star, South West Asia Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal w/ Bronze star, Afghan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officers Professional Development Medal(4th), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon(3rd), Army Forces Reserve Medal, Nato medal, Air Assault Badge, And Drivers Badge.