Comrades remember an exceptional soldier

With tears on his face and shakiness in his voice, Chief Warrant Officer Wesley Postol remembered a friend as a wing of Fort Gordon's Saltzman Hall was dedicated in memory of Chief Warrant Officer Alexander "Scott'' Coulter.

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"Scott always made you feel like you weren't bothering him and your call mattered to him," said Postol, an instructor at Fort Gordon who met Coulter in Iraq in 2003.

Coulter was the first Signal officer to die in Iraq when his vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device on Nov. 17, 2003. The wing named in his honor is in the building in which all Signal Corps warrant officers train. He trained there in 2001.

Postol said he arrived in Iraq in May 2003, and when he asked the officer he was replacing whom he needed to call, the first contact on his list was Coulter, because of his technical expertise.

He would later meet with Coulter several times, including the day Coulter died. The two became close friends during the few months they knew each other.

Several people who served with Coulter took the podium Friday to remember their friend and fellow soldier. His widow, Robin Coulter, also spoke.

"In my 24 years in this business, I've not served with a better warrant officer," said Col. John Scheiler, who served with him in Iraq. "Scott was a great leader, soldier and mentor to all of us. ... No one in our Army was more technically proficient. He was my go-to guy."

Coulter, a native of Bristol, Tenn., had served in the Army for 16 years when he died. He had deployed to Iraq in March 2003. It was his first tour in Iraq.

He left his wife; two daughters, Cindy and Hannah; and a stepdaughter, Sheena Kilgore.

At the ceremony, Joe Capps, Fort Gordon's deputy commander, presented Mrs. Coulter with the Gold Order of Mercury award in honor of her husband's ultimate sacrifice.

Reach Charmain Z. Brackett at czbrackett@hotmail.com.