On graduating from School of Armor, Fort Knox, Kentucky, Uday was assigned to C Company 1st Battalion 34th Armor, based at Fort Riley Kansas. However, he had been granted leave to travel to India from 20 Dec 2000 to 15 Jan 2001.
Uday came home to Chandigarh- full of confidence in himself and his abilities especially having found that little bit extra during the Gold Phase of his Basic Training where his performance was outstanding.
He was so thrilled and could not believe that in the end he prevailed having almost given up in the first weeks of Basic Training- and would repeatedly ask his grandmother whether she was proud of him.
Everyone in the family was proud of his achievements and were sure that he would go on to make a name for himself. He himself was sure that he would want to carry on and become an officer in the US Army.
After spending time with friends and family Uday returned to the US to report to his new assignment.
This was the time that many letters were not exchanged as it was very convenient to call up on a cell phone- so there was frequent exchange of news through telephonic conversations between Uday and his father.
One thing about this period was that initially there were numerous occasions in the barracks when Uday was subjected to covert and overt racism and snide remarks, and his father recalls that they had talked about it.
But as Uday settled down and others got to know him not only as a good, kind and considerate and helpful fellow soldier, but professionally very competent- things got better and from being subjected to snide remarks- was now slowly but surely being respected for his abilities and his spirit of genuine camaraderie – as well as other military qualities like leadership.
However, as Uday had once written to his father during the final phases of basic training, “that he had found himself”, he now had the courage of not only his convictions but also confidence in his professional competency and abilities, so it was only a matter of time that his fellow soldiers and superiors would turn to him as not only a leader but more importantly, a friend.
The father recalls advising Uday- from his own experience as an armor officer in the Indian Army- that the bedrock of tankers is their Espirit de Corps and teamwork which is essential for a tank crew to function as a well-oiled machine.
Uday had also been first received in the Company by Sergeant James Cassell- and also his tank commander was Sergeant Darren Cundiff. Both were married and Uday became a frequent visitor to their homes and was loved and admired by their children.
Professionally Uday could not have found two better mentors than James and Darren, and two very loving and helpful army wives.
This professional guidance and mentoring helped Uday to further achieve the highest standards of soldiering, which would help him in not only furthering his own confidence in his abilities- but also cementing the very quality of teamwork and helping each other which made him a popular member of the team, as within a few months the battalion was deploying to Kuwait for Intrinsic Action 2001-2003.
The father reflects that for a young Uday in a very alien environment –having found Darren and James supporting him- had a very lasting impact upon Uday’s feeling of being accepted and therefore encouraging him to perform better and better as per the demands of the army.