West Point grad prepares for his next challenge

When Arlington Heights native D. Court Harris was selected as a member of the Daily Herald Leadership team in 2003, he had applied to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but as a leukemia survivor, he had not received a medical waiver to attend.

Flash forward four years, we find Harris now is a second lieutenant in the Army, after being commissioned the day he graduated from West Point in May.

"It was a very interesting time to enter the Academy, as my class was the first since the Vietnam era to start our 48-month journey during a time of war," Harris said. "All of us knew that when we graduated, we would almost immediately be leading soldiers on deployments far away from home."

Harris himself was able to spend some time at home this summer, having just enough time to see his younger brother, Jonathan Harris, open his fall sports season, both as goaltender on the St. Viator soccer team, and placekicker on its football team.

While his mother, Michelle, nervously watches on the sidelines, his father, Major Gen. David Harris, is a 20-year veteran of the Illinois National Guard.

Harris is posted at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, as a lieutenant in the air defense artillery, whose purpose is to prevent attacks from enemy missiles and air crafts.

"These include scud and cruise missiles, as well as continental and intercontinental ballistic missiles," said Harris, a 2003 St. Viator High School graduate. "With the emergence of North Korea, Iran, and Syria long-range missile capabilities, the importance of air defense has never been greater."

He adds that the Army's air defense units in Iraq have successfully prevented more than 50 attacks from insurgent rockets, artillery and mortars, including one enemy artillery that had been directed at a Toby Keith USO concert.

Harris says he expects to be receiving on-the-job training until mid-December, learning the intricacies of the Army's weapons used to prevent these enemy air attacks. He expects to take over his first air defense platoon, or roughly 35 soldiers, at the beginning of next year.

"While Army unit rotations are never definite, it is not unlikely that I will take these soldiers on a deployment somewhere in the world in the fight against terrorism," Harris said. "The fact that I will be given the opportunity to lead 30 of America's sons and daughter and bear responsibility for their lives is both humbling and exciting at the same time, and I look forward to that challenge."