JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Brig. Gen. Daniel York, commanding general of the 104th Training Division (Leader Training), along with other senior military leaders and elected officials, will dedicate the 104th Training Division Headquarters building Saturday, April 9, in memory of Staff Sgt. Coby G. Schwab, a U.S. Army Reserve Soldier and former member of JBLM’s 3rd Stryker Brigade.
The building dedication ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at the 104th Headquarters building located at the JBLM Logistics Center. Family and friends of Staff Sgt. Schwab will be in attendance.
Staff Sgt. Schwab, an Army Reserve Soldier and a Puyallup resident, was killed May 3, 2007, during a recovery operation of a damaged vehicle near a canal. Schwab was returning to his vehicle after reattaching the recovery straps to the disabled vehicle which was threatening to pull both vehicles into the canal when he was killed in a secondary explosion caused by an IED. The incident took place near Ar Ramadi, during his second deployment in Iraq.
Schwab was assigned to Company B, 321st Engineer Battalion, 301st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 416th Theater Engineer Command. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star with Valor Device, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Combat Action Badge. At the time of his death, Schwab was 25.
Schwab served previously as an Infantryman with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, from February 2001 to February 2005. He was a Stryker vehicle commander and team leader and deployed with 3/2 SBCT to Iraq in 2003 -2004. Following that deployment he left active duty and continued his military service by transferring to the United States Army Reserve.
Schwab was passionate about ensuring that Soldiers had proper training and he used his previous active duty deployment experience with the Stryker Brigade to prepare his fellow Reserve Soldiers for duty in Iraq.
Media interested in covering the headquarters building dedication should RSVP to the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affairs office no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 8. After duty hours, call 253-967-0015 and ask for the on-call PAO.
For additional information about the ceremony or about Staff Sgt. Schwab, please contact the 104th Training Division (LT) Public Affairs Office at 253-968-7966.