CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- On International Women’s Day, we would like to recognize and congratulate U.S. Army Master Sgt. Zalika Ajamu, from Buffalo, NY, who is assigned to the 369th Sustainment Brigade of the New York Army National Guard, on her recent promotion from sergeant first class, during a ceremony conducted by Col. Seth Morgulas, commander of the brigade, Task Force Hellfighter, at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, March 2, 2023.
Ajamu is currently forward deployed as the brigade’s sexual assault response coordinator, which is a critical position because she helps Soldiers on their worst day and can affect real change for them.
“At the end of the day a position is just a position, but the driving force is the person manning that position,” Ajamu said. “I try my best to bring empathy, professionalism and knowledge to our formations”.
Ajamu wanted to be of service and has built a life around the Army that she is both proud of and does not take for granted.
She hopes that her family is proud of her and she knows they think it all worked out.
“After 20 years of service, [my family] is on board,” she said.
Her father was fully invested from the beginning.
“He wanted to join too!” she said. “But they told him he was too old”.
Some advice Ajamu would offer to Soldiers making their way up the ranks to becoming master sergeants is to be patient and aggressive.
“Those two things don’t typically go together but here [in the Army] they do,” she said. “Try your best to understand that every situation isn’t going to work out how you envisioned, and that’s okay”.
Ajamu explained that the lesson learned from that understanding will teach patience, but she encourages them to also be aggressive.
“Don’t take a back seat to your career,” she said.
“Stay hungry, stay curious, stay focused and it’ll serve you later”.
Date Taken: | 03.08.2023 |
Date Posted: | 03.08.2023 15:49 |
Story ID: | 439971 |
Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
Hometown: | BUFFALO, NEW YORK, US |
Web Views: | 96 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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