Bulldog coach glad to be home from Iraq
William Jeffers, secondary coach for Wallace-Rose Hill, had to do some complicated jerry rigging to keep up with the championship action when the Bulldogs played Mount Airy last November. He couldn’t be at the game. He had duty elsewhere…in Iraq.
Jeffers missed all of the first half action. As liaison officer, he had to attend a meeting with the officers of the 17th Iraqi Division. But as soon as the meeting ended, Jeffers rushed back to the U.S. compound on the Iraqi base and went straight to the computer lab.
It was 8:45 p.m. in Iraq when through the computer he got his wife on the phone. Via her cell phone she gave him a play-by-play account of the game and the thrilling 38-37 win. He kept up with the game’s stats by checking the NCPreps.com web site.
After serving nine months in Iraq with the National Guard, Coach William Jeffers is back doing what he loves – helping to coach the Bulldog football team.
“I got to listen to the second half on my wife’s cell phone,” he said.
His active duty began on August 1, 2007 when he began helping prepare the 230th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) for duty in Iraq. He began active duty as a 1st lieutenant and when he returned to the U.S. he was a captain.
Jeffers was company commander of Alpha Company.
The 230th BSB supports all the logistics needs of the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team of 4,500 soldiers. That’s food, water and maintenance parts … everything required to ensure the brigade is combat ready.
The 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team was one of the first National Guard units to be assigned its own area of operations, according to Jeffers.
“We distributed close to 1.5 million gallons of water, 1.7 million gallons of fuel, and ran the warehouse that provided parts for the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team’s area of operations and for a good portion of Baghdad,” Jeffers said.
He spent nine months in Iraq, arriving in April 2009.
“I got back on Feb. 9,” Jeffers said. “And I came back to work on Feb. 22.”
Work is teaching math and coaching. He’s the defensive secondary coach, which is a new responsibility for him.
Before his Iraq deployment, he had helped with special teams, receivers and linebackers.
Is he glad to be back at Wallace-Rose? With a grin he said, “Oh, yes sir.”
