Photo By Kelly Morris | Sgt. 1st Class Cody Randall, 128th Aviation Brigade, is honored as the U.S. Army...... read more read more
FORT NOVOSEL, Ala.--For Sgt. 1st Class Cody C. Randall, the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence 2024 Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, the sport of wrestling appealed to him in high school and college because it was a physically demanding sport where the rewards match the effort.
“There’s a saying that 'once you have wrestled in your life, everything else is easy'. Whatever you put in, you will get back. If you work really hard, you will get the rewards from your hard work,” said Randall, who serves as a platoon sergeant at Company A, 2d Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
Randall’s life path took him to a community college on a wrestling scholarship, but by his early 20s he found himself at a fork in the road, and he was looking to develop a skill. He happened to see a commercial on television that inspired him to head to the recruiter’s office and “do something different” with his life.
Aviation looked to be a good opportunity to develop a skill that would serve him well in and out of the Army. After enlisting to become a CH-47 Helicopter Repairer/Aircrew Member (15U), he soon found a sense of camaraderie that appealed to him, along with opportunities for development and career progression, and a chance to give back and help newer Soldiers coming into the Army.
Now, after 11 years of service, he has found that the same principle that appealed to him about the sport wrestling can also apply to military service.
“When I give a lot to the Army, I get a lot back,” he said.
A typical day on the job for him as platoon sergeant begins with morning physical training, and includes administrative work, checking the schedule to make sure everyone is where they need to be, and overall taking care of the platoon. He spends most of his day instructing on the hangar floor and in the classroom as he develops future aviation mechanics to maintain the CH-47 Chinook helicopter fleet.
“We’ll teach the basics about that subsystem and everything that’s on the helicopter, how to maintain it, what to look for, how to navigate the manual … and then we’ll go out to the hangar floor, and we’ll teach them how to actually perform these mechanic tasks in that section,” he said.
To be successful, Randall said he has to find a way to teach students that have different learning styles, but he enjoys the challenge.
“I actually really love instructing students over here,” he said. “I find it rewarding, and when they succeed I feel very proud.”
While taking care of his platoon, as well as his own family, he is currently also finishing up his associate’s degree in aviation support. In the Army he remains committed to physical fitness and enjoys power lifting.
When Randall was approached about competing in the USAACE Best Squad competition conducted at Fort Novosel in May, he thought it would be a good opportunity for development.
“As a newer sergeant first class, I wanted to kind of prove that just because I’m a senior noncommissioned officer doesn’t mean I can’t go do that type of stuff,” Randall said.
It was also an opportunity to mentor junior Soldiers.
Randall helped with techniques to improve their performance on the Army Combat Fitness Test. They also prepared for the competition by doing ruck marches, and practiced boards and how to zero a weapon. Their biggest challenge as a team was one they were not able to prepare for, the land navigation event, he said.
“Most of the people on the team couldn’t find all their points,” he said. “They didn’t really have a hard time plotting on the maps, because we actually had a teaching portion on that to walk them through, but we didn’t have a chance to navigate them through a forest environment” in advance.
Teammate Pfc. Jeffrey Ryan, a chaplain assistant, whom Randall knew from a combatives courses that Randall taught, had never appeared before a board of senior enlisted leaders before, and being able to go in as a squad was helpful. Ryan ended up finishing first on the ruck march event.
“He did very well,” Randall said.
The intensive week of back-to-back events conducted at Fort Novosel and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., included the Army Combat Fitness Test, weapons qualifications, grenade range, day and night land navigation, a six-mile foot march, obstacle course, written test, and squad appearances before a board of senior enlisted leaders.
Randall said the competition was “really fun,” and an opportunity to focus on basic Soldier skills he had not done in a while with the nature of his current U.S. Army Training and Doctrine assignment. He enjoyed pushing himself, he explained.
Based on his performance in the competition, Randall was named the 2024 USAACE NCO of the Year.
“Sgt. 1st Class Randall is the epitome of the Total Soldier Concept, as the junior Sergeant First Class in our organization he constantly seeks out opportunities that challenge himself and others. When SFC Randall was named USAACE NCO of the Year, that was just an affirmation to his dedication to giving his all and staying competitive every day,” said Sgt. 1st Class Matorris J. Green, first sergeant at Company A, 2-210th Aviation.
Randall will now go on to compete at the TRADOC level.
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.12.2024 04:57 |
| Story ID: | 473395 |
| Location: | FORT NOVOSEL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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