Poughkeepsie National Guard Soldier Promoted to Corporal While Overseas

Stephen Lear receives Army promotion during deployment to Kuwait

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Stephen Lear is promoted to corporal by Capt. Odelle Despot in a ceremony held at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Dec. 29, 2016. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Cesar E. Leon)

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT (01/07/2017)(readMedia)-- New York Army National Guard Corporal Stephen J. Lear Jr., a Poughkeepsie resident and Marines Corps veteran, received a promotion to the rank of corporal in the New York Army National Guard here in Kuwait on December 29, 2016.

He is currently deployed to the Middle East and serves as an information management officer with the 369th Sustainment Brigade, famously known in the Army as the "Harlem Hell Fighters."

The brigade headquarters deployed to Kuwait in early November with about 250 Soldiers to provide logistics support to military operations across the Central Command area of responsibility.

Lear is a graduate of Arlington High School in Lagrangeville, New York and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Criminology at American Military University. After graduation, he served in the Marines Corps before joining the National Guard in 2011. He has previously served as cable systems installer and maintainer with the 101st Signal Battalion.

His awards include an Army Achievement Medal.

Lear's parents are Dede and Steve Lear and he has two older brothers, Kyle and Mike.

The "Harlem Hell Fighters" trace their history to service in World War I when the unit was a segregated African-American Infantry Regiment, becoming one of the most decorated in the United States Army. The Soldiers fought under French command and were famous for never giving ground to the enemy.

Lear and the 369th Sustainment Brigade are expected to redeploy back to New York in the summer of 2017.