Sergeant First Class Robert Olton, United States Army Platoon Sergeant, 1st Platoon, C Battery, 3-17 Field Artillery Regiment Fort Lewis, Washington

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Robert Olton is a native of Barbados. He immigrated to the United States in October 1989 to be with his future wife. They married soon afterwards. In June 1992, SFC Olton enlisted in the United States Army as a cannon crewmember. After serving in Louisiana, Texas, and Germany, SFC Olton re-enlisted in the late 1990s to be stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 1999, he became a United States citizen. SFC Olton has held a variety of duty positions throughout his career and his deployments include Bosnia and Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor and Iraq in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Throughout his career, SFC Olton has advanced steadily in rank. Most recently, SFO Olton returned to duty with a line unit after serving as a drill sergeant, a position reserved for the top ten percent of Army non-commissioned officers. SFC Olton holds numerous medals, awards, and citations praising his service as a model soldier and non-commissioned officer. For fifteen years, SFC Olton has been committed to upholding the values and ideals America has come to represent throughout the world.