Leader Presence: The Honorable Service of CW2 Fuchigami

Editor’s Note: Warrant Officer Candidate Robert A. Sanders penned this article during his study of Army Leadership Doctrine in the Warrant Officer Candidate Course. After grading the assignment, his instructor submitted the article for editor’s review based on the power of his words. The editors formatted the article and made minor corrections for ease of reading; however, the content is that of the author’s. As such, this is the first article selected for publication from a warrant officer candidate since the inception of Strength in Knoweldge: The Warrant Officer Journal.

When I was in high school, I met a young man named Kirk Takeshi Fuchigami Jr. He was short and scrawny but funny, friendly, smart, and never boasted or beat his chest. In high school, that is a rare trait. What I did not realize then was that my new friend would be a Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2), a Bronze Star recipient, and a hero to a very scared group of soldiers in Afghanistan.

Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-22, chapter 2-1, states that: “Influences such as background, beliefs, education, and experiences affect all soldiers and DA civilians.” This becomes apparent without the reading when you look at people like CW2 Fuchigami. Even before becoming a soldier, he displayed all three leadership attributes as if they were his first language. During our years in high school, Kirk was active in AFJROTC and our school’s aviation magnet program. He was often found in a leadership role that required him to do public speaking, cite regulations, critique strangers’ uniform wear, and occasionally teach various subjects. He always did so with confidence, professionalism, and expertise that would make you think he had been doing it for years. During high school, he became one of the youngest people in the school’s history to earn his private pilot’s license. Now, anyone who has ever flown a plane knows that doing so is a very mentally challenging task. To fly an airplane takes a great deal of mental agility, confidence, and discipline. Now, do that same task when you are sixteen or seventeen years old when your brain is still developing. Kirk was able to perform expertly years beyond his age level. That is, in my opinion, something that made him such a perfect candidate for warrant officer.

Kirk was a good man and a good friend. That made it that much harder when I learned of his passing. I had let life get away from me and, as a result, had not spoken to Kirk in several years. I had no idea he had become a Warrant Officer, an Apache pilot, or a husband until I read his obituary on a popular social media page. That was when I learned that my friend had died a true leader and a savior to a platoon of men. On November 20, 2019, CW2 Fuchigami died while he was helping a group of soldiers whose lives hung in the balance. A man named Brandon Hernandez posted on Kirk’s obituary page that his platoon had been hit with a vehicle-borne IED a week prior; he was nervous, anxious, and scared when he had to go on patrol again so soon. Those emotions grew exponentially when the mission “ended up going wrong”, as he put it. The man explained how he “was panicking, nervous, and scared that he was going to lose his life, he was losing faith with every minute.” But when he heard the Apache in the sky, flown by CW2 Knadle and CW2 Fuchigami, his fear turned to hope, and his anxiety calmed. He explains that the mission ended up being 18 hours long, and the Apache were with them all the way.

During that one engagement, Chief Fuchigami showed clear leadership competencies and attributes. When he arrived on-site, his presence motivated and inspired the rest of the platoon to carry on the mission. By staying there to provide overwatch for the platoon, he and his copilot helped build trust in those soldiers on the ground. They knew that someone had their back. They could see it, and that made all the difference in their ability to achieve mission success. From what I have been able to find, CW2 Fuchigami and CW2 Knadle died when their AH-64 Apache crashed due to mechanical failure. I’ve never met Kirk’s widow, and I may never know the finer details of that mission. But I knew I had not considered becoming an Army Warrant Officer until I learned about it. When I learned about Kirk’s passing, I looked into the Warrant Officer school and learned more about it. All I knew at that point was that they were technical experts and the only service members who could be pilots without a college degree. I don’t know why anybody would want to do anything else; I know I have a lot to learn.