Photo By Sgt. Tracy R. Myers | Sgt. David Phinney, 3rd Human Resource Sustainment Center, 406TH Human Resources...... read more read more
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CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Another class of Warrior Leader Course graduates walked across the stage of the Warrior Tent here July 14. The Class consisted of 124 Soldiers from across U.S. Army Central’s area of operations.
Several Soldiers were recognized for their superior performance, including 25 who made the Commandant’s List, graduating in the top 20 percent of their class.
Among those Soldiers was Sgt. David Phinney, a postal finance inspector assigned to the 406th Human Resource Company, 7th Civil Support Command out of Kaiserslautern, Germany. He has already proven he is a go-getter to his chain of command.
The 3rd Human Resource Sustainment Center Postal Operations Division needed a position filled, and Phinney volunteered to take on the responsibility of being the theater-wide postal finance inspector, said Sgt. 1st Class Angel Weathersby, 3rd HRSC POD noncommissioned officer in charge.
“Finance is one of the most complicated jobs in the POD,” said Weathersby. “He basically taught himself the ins-and-outs of the job by doing the research and taking the initiative to learn.”
Phinney, from Dowagiac, Michigan, is known by his chain of command to aim high in all facets of his Army profession, and this
accomplishment was no surprise to his supervisor.
He was very determined to attend WLC and wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way, said Weathersby. She was very optimistic about him succeeding after receiving an email from him after the first day.
“He said, ‘sergeant, I went above and beyond on my [physical training] test’,” Weathersby exclaimed. “And the emails just kept coming!”
Phinney said he prepared for WLC by taking charge of the unit’s Physical Readiness Training formations, familiarizing himself with the course curriculum and even learning a few new cadences. Being prepared for the course gave him an advantage.
“I would strongly suggest upcoming students to research the course curriculum and know how to conduct [Drill and Ceremony] and [Physical Readiness Training],” Phinney said. “If you are confident with these two things, than you will have more time to be prepared for other things.”
There is a lot to learn in three weeks, he said. While the instructors do an amazing job leading students, it is very fast paced.
“The more rest you have, the better,” explained Phinney. “I was able to get a full night’s sleep and wake up early to study.”
Phinney believes the most valuable skills learned at WLC are how to write memorandums and award documents.
“If you are going to lead Soldiers, you need to be able to recognize them when they do well,” he said. “Being able to properly fill out and submit an award form will allow it to move through the approval process in a timely manner.”
The greatest lesson he learned was how to work as a member of a team.
“The Army is a team, and we won’t make it fighting alone,” he said. “I am better because I now realize there are people around me to lean on. I enjoyed working with my platoon, sharing leadership and accepting new ideas.”
The next WLC class began yesterday for deployed Soldiers in the U.S. Army Central area of operation.
| Date Taken: | 07.18.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2014 08:07 |
| Story ID: | 136481 |
| Location: | CAMP BUEHRING, KW |
| Hometown: | RAMSTEIN-MIESENBACH, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Hometown: | DOWAGIAC, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 136 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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