Photo By Sgt. Jordan Arnold | Thomas Green and Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Hancock shake hands in front of a Bell UH-1...... read more read more
Thomas Green voluntarily joined the Army in 1968 and became and Airborne and Ranger qualified before beginning his tour of Vietnam, where he would lead an armored cavalry platoon. After Vietnam, Green commanded three companies, two battalions, and a brigade before retiring as a colonel. One of those battalions was the 503d Aviation Battalion, 3d Armored Division.
In 1984, while stationed in Hanno Englaender, Germany with the 503d, then Lt. Col Green, met a young private who began to make his presence known.
"He was soldier of the month, the quarter, the year, everything...I found out he was doing phase maintenance on a Huey all by himself. He could do all of them." Green said.
That impressive private is now Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Hancock, the senior enlisted adviser to Brig. Gen. Stanley Budraitis, United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence deputy commander, Fort Rucker, Alabama.
“He stepped forward,” said Green. “It wasn’t like he was hiding in the back of the crowd with his head down…he made himself visible through superior performance and through his willingness to step up and take personal challenges.”
When asked about his first memory of Green, Hancock said, “My first experience with him was our first battalion run…and he liked to have ran us death!”
Green’s firm stance on physical fitness and health was not without good reason. During his tour of Vietnam, he strove to keep good on his word to keep all of his soldiers alive. One soldier, unfortunately, did not make it after sustaining injuries from an explosion. He had not been exercising or eating properly while in country and as a result, according to the physician, died from shock. Because of this incident, Green, to this day, has remained strong on his stance of maintaining proper physical health.
Things were different back then, according Hancock. Unlike now, with the open door policy, Soldiers relied heavily on their squad leaders and platoon sergeants to utilize the chain of command. Soldiers didn’t just go and visit the commander or approach the sergeant major.
By winning all of the boards and building his rapport as a dependable soldier, it opened up the door to Green’s office and allowed him the opportunity to get to know his commander better.
Hancock said that unlike now, with the combat patch, most of the noncommissioned officers and officers were Vietnam vets. “I held them in esteem and when those kind of people spoke, you shut up and you listen to them. Because the things that they tell you are things they’ve experienced. And those things you might pick up from them, are things that could save your life or your buddies’ lives…and Colonel Green was one of those guys,” Hancock said.
It was these lessons that he learned that led him to accomplish Soldier of the Month, Soldier of the Quarter, Soldier of the Year, and Division Soldier of the Day. Hancock was always taught that you are not average, and to shoot for the best that you can do.
In 1984, Hancock transitioned into the South Carolina National Guard and worked on UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. He has maintained constant service since then and now works at the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence, Fort Rucker, Alabama.
A chance encounter led the two to meet again 38 years later. Hancock said he was in his office when a man came in asking for information about the 38th Infantry Division from Indiana. He brushed off the encounter, but several days later he found himself downstairs in headquarters talking to this same man who was claiming to have worked with the 503d Aviation Battalion. That man was retired Col. Thomas Green.
Green had only begun working on Fort Rucker back in August of 2021 as a senior analyst in the commander’s initiative group, helping to form messages for the commanding general to distribute to the aviation branch.
“At first I didn’t recognize him, ‘cause he was old. I didn’t get old, but he did,” Green joked. “But it was really a good thing, it felt good. Identified him early as a good Soldier.”
“I came straight upstairs and found out who the infantry commander from Indiana was...and said here you go, sir, I’m sorry I didn’t get it to you that same day, it’ll never happen again,” Hancock said after he realized who Green was. “He said, ‘Charles, I just expect your best.’”
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.11.2022 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 417599 |
| Location: | FORT RUCKER, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 640 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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