CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – When Spc. Shamario Jackson was ready to re-enlist, he didn’t talk to his career counselor like most Soldiers; he called his dad.

Jackson, with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, enlisted through his father, Master Sgt. Barry Norris, senior career counselor for the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

“I’d been thinking about (re-enlisting) for a while,” said Jackson. “Anything about re-enlistment I ask him about.”

Norris helped his son learn when he would be eligible to re-enlist, what he could qualify for and what his various options were. Because Norris recruits only Soldiers within the CAB, he was unable to credit his son as a Soldier he has re-enlisted; however, as a courtesy his name was put on the contract because Jackson is his son.

“It’s a great honor and a privilege to re-enlist my son,” said Norris. “We’d been talking about this since before he left (in January) and it makes me proud to see him doing well in his career. It’s also an opportunity for me to see him while I’m deployed.

Jackson flew in from Camp Korean Village to re-enlist as part of a mass re-enlistment ceremony with Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. The ceremony took place Dec. 19 at Camp Victory’s Al Faw Palace, with 267 Soldiers from across Multi-National Division – Center and other 3rd Infantry Division brigades outside the area.

Jackson, a signal support systems specialist, re-enlisted for six more years with an $11,000 bonus and current station stabilization for 12 months.

“I know when I joined the Army I wanted to, more than likely, make the military a career,” said Jackson. “(Norris) made it easier to re-enlist. There are a lot of military things I don’t know about that he knows.”