I was a staff sergeant, the senior noncommissioned officer (NCO) in the S1 Administration Section of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade in Frankfurt, Germany. I had a diverse group of five young soldiers under my charge. One black female, one Hispanic female, one Hispanic male, one white female, and one white male.

My soldiers were the best. They were always on time for formations, and all of them scored high marks on their PT tests. They reported for duty on time and were very proficient in t...