Rockford Navy reservist ‘too damn close’ to bomb on duty in Afghanistan

Rockford attorney Timothy P. Naill was “close enough to see the fire and the smoke and feel the darn blast. Too damn close, in other words.”

The Navy Reserve lieutenant commander recalled a recent suicide bombing in Afghanistan that was responsible for the deaths of six individuals, some of them Americans.

Thomas A. Wartowski of Rockford wrote about Naill’s experiences in the February issue of The Lawyer, a monthly publication of the Winnebago County Bar Association.

Naill, who practices in workers’ compensation and personal injury with Reese & Reese, was called to duty last May with only six months to go on a 20-year commitment to the Navy Reserve.

He had served previously with a Tomahawk Missile Strike Force in the first Gulf War, and again in the Persian Gulf as part of No Fly Zone operations.

In Afghanistan, he is an operations officer with the international security assistance force in Kabul, working with NATO troops from England, Poland, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Macedonia, Australia, Canada and other nations.

“I could not do this without the support of the office, the community, and my family and friends,” Tim Naill said, thanking the Rockford community for many letters, cards and care packages, which he shared with troops from all over the world.

Back home, his wife and two young sons have been blessed with help from neighbors who mow the lawn, shovel the driveway and pitch in whenever the need arise.

Born in Rockford, Naill graduated cum laude in 1998 from the Northern Illinois University College of Law and practiced briefly in Ottawa before joining Reese & Reese.

He was preparing for a deposition when he was summoned to duty by an unexpected phone call. At age 42, he was soon training in South Carolina for war duty in Afghanistan.

The day he arrived at the Kabul airport, he honored a Rockford enlisted man, David Badie, who had been killed in action.

“I won’t ever forget that day at the airport, when I arrived and (Badie) departed,” he said. “My heart goes out to his family and all of those who have paid such a high price for our freedom.”

Naill hopes to return to Rockford by June, and he plans to retire from the Navy Reserve then.