Petty officer receives rare honor for leadership, expertise in Iraq Sailor given meritorious advancementBy Travis J. Tritten, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, January 9, 2008
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — If you want to know about Petty Officer 1st Class John C. Caral, just ask the U.S. Navy.
The service rolled out some of its highest praise for the Sasebo sailor Tuesday — “highest caliber,” “highly professional,” “strives for excellence in any endeavor” and “produces exceptional results.”
The Navy awarded Caral a rare meritorious advancement for extraordinary combat service in the Middle East, which immediately elevated him from a second class to a first class petty officer.
The praise was hard-won and laced with the tragedy and danger of war.
Caral, a master-at-arms, spent his 2006-07 deployment in Iraq searching for enemy weapons and improvised explosives with his bomb-sniffing dog, Baro.
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