Much of what Sgt. Maj. Robert Odell of Manassas did in Iraq was classified, but a spokeswoman for his military unit said she could describe the way he did it and what kind of a man he was.
"He was a brave and courageous individual . . . doing a job that needed to be done," said Deborah Y. Parker, spokeswoman for the Army Intelligence and Security Command.
Odell, 38, a husband and the father of three children, was among 14 U.S. service members killed this week in the apparent suicide bombing at a mess tent on an Army base in northern Iraq.
His name was released yesterday by the Pentagon. Earlier this week, families confirmed that two other Virginia soldiers, both members of the National Guard, were killed in the bombing in Mosul.
Spec. Nicholas C. Mason, 20, of King George County and Spec. David A. Ruhren, 20, of Stafford County were assigned to the 276th Engineer Battalion.
Much of the material in Odell's personnel file is of a nature "that I would not be at liberty to share," said Parker, the spokeswoman for INSCOM, based at Fort Belvoir.
She said Odell was attached to INSCOM's headquarters unit. He was an expert in communications and performed intelligence work, she said.
His work was believed to involve operating systems used to send and receive classified communications. "A lot of what he was doing involves work that was not out in the open," Parker said.
She said he had served overseas "numerous times" and held many decorations including three Meritorious Service Medals, three Joint Services Commendation Medals and two Army Commendation Medals.
He was promoted to sergeant major after his death, she said, and the Army plans to make a posthumous award of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
He and his wife, Cynthia, who was away from the area yesterday, were parents of three children, all younger than 5.
A relative of Odell's, reached yesterday in Texas, declined to speak with a reporter.
Odell "was an intelligence" noncommissioned officer "doing sensitive work," said Maj. Gen. John F. Kimmons, commanding general of INSCOM.
He said several hundred members of his command were deployed in Iraq on intelligence and security assignments.
Earlier this month, Sgt. Cari Ann Gasiewicz of INSCOM was killed in the explosion of a roadside bomb.
"These things all hit pretty hard," the general said. Noting that Odell's death was announced on Christmas Eve, he said such reports "always [arrive] at the wrong time."
But, he added, "there's never a good time."
