Robert Hammett

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Chief Warrant Officer Robert Hammett's five daughters won't be crawling into his lap anymore.

Next week they'll be burying their soldier dad in Tucson.

Hammett, 39, was one of two soldiers and eight civilians felled Tuesday in Iraq by a bomb blast at a municipal office in Sadr City.

The father of five girls, ages 1 to 15, was part of a team working to restore local government and services in the former Shiite militia stronghold.

Hammett's mother, Carolyn Moen, and his in-laws live in Tucson, the hometown of his wife, the former Leanna McConnell, a family member said.

The Florida-born Hammett considered Tucson his home, too, and listed it as such in Army records.

He is the 36th service member with ties to Tucson or Southern Arizona felled by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Robert Hammett Sr., 65, of LaBelle, Fla., said his son had two loves: his job and his family. In recent years, the former increasingly took him away from the latter.

"He loved being a soldier, and he loved being a dad," said the elder Hammett, a Vietnam War veteran. "The only thing he didn't like about being in the military was having to be away from home so much.

"As far as I could tell, his girls adored him," Hammett Sr. said of the soldier's relationship with his offspring. "They were always climbing around on him, sitting in his lap or hanging onto his arm. Even the bigger girls."

He said he last visited the family members in July 2007 at their home in Colorado, near Fort Carson. His son was assigned there to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

The younger Hammett was on his third Middle East deployment when he was killed in action, Army officials said.

Since 2002, he had spent a total of 29 months — nearly 2 1/2 years — overseas.

In an e-mail two days before his death, the soldier — nicknamed Charlie because his middle name is Charles — confessed to a growing weariness, his father said.

"He sounded tired. He said it's been really rough. Most of the guys he was with were on their third tour, and everybody was just so tired."

Even so, the elder Hammett said, his son was determined to make a difference in the war-torn country.

"He knew the job they were doing there was a really important job," he said. "A lot of people are saying we need to get out of Iraq, but he said if the U.S. left, it would quickly degenerate into a civil war, and some other strongman would take over."

As a warrant officer, the younger Hammett was highly accomplished in his military career field. He was a command and control systems technician.

"He was a quiet guy, very intelligent, and as close to a perfectionist as you could get," his father said. "Whatever he did, he gave it his very best.

"I just can't tell you how proud I am of him," the elder Hammett said.

The soldier also is survived by a sister in Tucson and a brother in Florida.

Funeral services will be held next week in Tucson. The family has requested that details not be publicized in advance.

On StarNet: To leave condolences or messages for Hammett's family, visit go.azstarnet.com/Hammett.