Six years after an explosion nearly severed his arm, a local soldier continues to serve his country overseas, and he recently was honored for his achievements.
Staff Sergeant Tanner A. Hoag, 31, of Benton, Wis., was awarded the Army's Joint Service Achievement Medal for his service in South Korea.
The Joint Service Achievement Medal is awarded in the name of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to members of the Armed Forces who distinguish themselves by outstanding performance of duty and meritorious achievement.
According to the official citation from the Army, Hoag, who had no prior training or knowledge of Web page design or management, researched, coordinated and enabled the design and implementation of the new Web-based Civil Engineering Reporting System. The site informs service members, family members, Department of Defense civilians and U.S. Embassy employees of upcoming planned civil gatherings and protests in the peninsula.
"In Korea, the citizens act out many times by protesting or forming a civil gathering to oppose a group, idea or government," Hoag said. "These are many times
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"These protests are neverending and have potential to get violent."
Hoag said that in one protest in January, three Korean police officers and four protesters were killed.
Hoag is a police intelligence analyst.
He collects information about planned protests and writes advisory reports that are sent to higher-level officials.
"With the new page, a spouse or lower-level soldier can look at the Web page from home or work and see if their route home or off post for sightseeing will be safe and free of protesters," Hoag said.
Hoag was humbled when he heard he would be receiving the medal.
"It was one of the proudest, if not the proudest moment, of my 12-year Army career," Hoag said.
He grew up in Dubuque and moved to Benton, Wis., before his freshman year in high school, where he graduated in 1996. He enlisted in the Army in 1997.
In 2003, while serving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division, Hoag was wounded when the Humvee he was riding in was struck by an explosive device.
After getting out of the hospital in 2004, Hoag returned to his unit at Fort Campbell. Soon after, he was reassigned to the newly formed 561st Military Police Company, a unit designed to train specifically for detainee operations missions.
In 2007, Hoag became a military police instructor. He trained recruits in urban warfare and detainee operations.
In 2008, he volunteered for a one-year tour in Korea.
He returns home this week to his family in Benton. He hopes to be accepted into the Army's Criminal Investigations Division, or to go on to Army recruiting duty and tell applicants his story.
"I want to reach out especially to those in the military in the local tri-state-area that have been wounded and want to continue to serve their country," Hoag said.
