Photo By Staff Sgt. Tristan Moore | Sgt. Jacob Achtabowski, the command driver for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command’s...... read more read more
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii – It’s pronounced Ach·ta·baů-skē. It’s Polish. Most just call him Ski or A-C-H, but almost no one calls him Sgt. Jacob Achtabowski unless it is for official business, such as when he received the Distinguished Leader and Iron Soldier awards in one fell swoop at his advanced leader course. Or when he earned his Air Assault Badge. Or when he earns a 590-plus score on his Army Combat Fitness Test. Or when he’s hand-picked to become the commanding general’s command driver. Regardless of what he answers to, Achtabowski will give it his all. His desire to succeed is more than motivation – it’s good old-fashioned discipline. That’s dis·ci·pline.
With that discipline, he would learn more about the Army, but first, he’d have to join. After high school, Achtabowski was an unmoored ship floating adrift on Lake Huron. He found himself with no solid plans aside from maybe one day joining the police force in Bay City, Michigan, located along the Saginaw River where the forefinger and thumb of the state meet. That changed in 2019 when he joined a friend on a trip to the local recruiting station where his buddy was aiming to enlist in the Army.
“I was with somebody who wanted to join the Army originally, and my whole point was, I wanted to become a police officer,” said the 24-year-old serving as the command driver for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command in Fort Shafter, Hawaii – just outside Honolulu. But technically he’s a corrections detention specialist. So, what happened?
“I talked to an Air Force recruiter, and she was kind of making the process hard, and so then I talked to this Army recruiter, and he was making it easier,” said Achtabowski. “And he was basically feeding me all the good things. So, I bit into the piece of cake that I liked.”
Achtabowski was on a fast track to becoming a military police officer when some medical test results gave the doctors pause. A week passed before he was medically cleared, but that week was all it took for the MP job to fall out of his grasp. The recruiter instead offered the corrections detention specialist job. Same-same, said the recruiter.
Nope. Not same-same. Achtabowski quickly found himself assigned to the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, corralling 400 inmates found guilty of various heinous crimes, including murder.
“So, I was in charge of making sure that tier checks were completed and inmates were in regulation. Inmates still have to follow AR (Army Regulation) 670-1 even behind bars,” said Achtabowski, referring to the Army regulation that covers grooming and uniform standards.
Achtabowski worked his way up through the ranks, becoming a sergeant who oversaw three fellow detention corrections specialists. Along the way, he made friends who introduced him to his first lesson in discipline but not before letting the pandemic weigh him down. He found himself content with complacency, eating whatever he wanted whenever he wanted and ultimately pushing about 230 pounds on a 5-foot-4 tall frame.
“I was just eating whatever, and I was just happy; I was just content with being like, ‘I made it,’” said Achtabowski. “After that, I got a real eye-opener, and I started hanging out with some friends (who) really influenced my life to this day, and they loved working out. So, right when I started hanging out with them, they got me into the gym. And ever since then, I never looked back. And it's always been like a pivotal point of my life.”
Achtabowski picked up weightlifting and has dedicated himself to a healthier lifestyle ever since. He did this for his health, but the result was superior performances in the Army Combat Fitness Test and the numerous physical activities that come with the job.
Seeing the fat melt away and physique improve were not the only gains he saw while in Leavenworth. He also had time to think, observe, and begin to learn who he wanted to be as a leader.
“I think a good leader should always be good at physical training, especially in the Army,” he said. “I mean, I don't think that makes you a good leader, but I definitely think that it can influence Soldiers under you to strive for more.”
In May 2023, he was more-or-less paroled from his job at the prison, and he took his newfound love for fitness and discipline to Hawaii where he was initially assigned to the 8th Military Police Brigade, one of the 8th TSC’s subordinate brigades. There he was placed in the operations section – a far cry from the duties and responsibilities of his old job. It was clear he had much to learn, said Sgt. 1st Class Sean Young, an operations noncommissioned officer at the time.
“When I first received him, … we're like, ‘Oh, man, this guy doesn't know anything about law enforcement. They (detention specialists) just sit in the prison,’” said Young, which Achtabowski sheepishly corroborates. “And that was true, but he caught on really quick, and I think that's because his willingness to learn and ask questions and put himself in uncomfortable situations even though he doesn’t want to.”
Those uncomfortable situations saw Achtabowski struggling to adapt to the operational tempo of the unit that is constantly on the move – across the Indo-Pacific theater of operations and Oahu. The leadership at the time also didn’t cut him any slack.
“I don't know if it was just them trying to make him harder or what or put him through the crucible, but there were a lot of heart-to-heart conversations with him where he was just in the dirt,” said Young. “I had to have those uncomfortable talks with him. It mainly was boot-to-ass. But he took it, and he recognized his faults, didn't make excuses, and he just drove forward.
“I think he's a better individual now because of all those hardships, in which, in the grand scheme of things, I don't think it was too bad, but coming from his last work environment, the OP tempo was very high. He just was not used to those styles of leadership and the OP tempo. So, I think it was kind of a culture shock for him, but he adapted really, really quickly.”
1st Lt. Aidan Walker, a military police officer who is currently assigned as the aide de camp to the 8th TSC deputy commanding officer, works closely with Achtabowski. He agrees with Young that Achtabowski has grown as a leader and Soldier over the past year. Walker attributes the development partly to the leaders – like Young – who have mentored and invested in him.
“He comes from good leadership. He performs like every leader he's talked about that's been mentoring him,” said Walker. “And he's definitely pulling those traits and keeping them alive as they progress out of their positions.”
Traits like discipline, forward-thinking, and attention to detail have carried Achtabowski in his personal and professional pursuits. He recently returned from the military police advanced leader course, a professional military education steppingstone for NCOs vying to be promoted to staff sergeant. While there, though he was one of the most junior sergeants, he was voted to compete for the distinguished leadership award. He beat out every other student to take the title. He was also awarded the Iron Soldier Award for scoring the highest on his ACFT.
“I feel like discipline is an everyday thing. It can't just be like, ‘I’m going to ALC, or I'm going to air assault; I'm going to airborne or Rangers,’ or whatever you're doing,” said Achtabowski. “I feel like it has to be a 24/7 mindset. And it's not motivation, it's discipline. I feel like you learn that from day one in the Army. Some people lose that because motivation is temporary, while discipline lasts for an eternity, as long as you want it to.”
Young and others saw that discipline in Achtabowski early on and fed and encouraged it to grow, contributing to his latest accolades.
“So that's something that myself and the officer in charge noticed really quickly,” said Young. “We started to submit him for all these competitions and schools and every task or challenge that was given to him, he came out on top. He's got a great work ethic. He's a good leader. He came here as a follower … but I will tell you that he has developed in the last year into a well-rounded NCO.”
Achtabowski’s discipline and work ethic does not stop at his home’s threshold; it carries over into his personal life and relationships. His favorite activity is weightlifting, so he is in the gym for about two hours a day, and he’s netting results. His current personal records are 335 pounds on bench press, 500 pounds on deadlift, and 450 pounds on squat. Amassing a cumulative weight of 1,285 pounds, destroying the barrier to enter the exclusive 1,000-pound club.
“I wish I had more time with him, and I wish he was an MP because I would have brought him to my platoon,” said Young. “He’s just a good person. Honestly, he's a good person. I can see it in his eyes and his aspirations that he wants to be here in the Army; he wants to be a leader.”
His positive demeanor and outlook have helped him stack wins outside of work too. He started a relationship with his girlfriend, Joyce Zarate, with whom he spends a lot of his downtime.
“We like to go hiking; we like to check out new spots,” said Achtabowski. “She's from the Philippines. She's been here (Hawaii) about six years. 2018 is when she got here, so she's kind of spent her adult life here. But she knows more about Hawaii than me, so I'm always open to try new things. And plus, I love learning about her culture. I would love to go to the Philippines.”
Achtabowski is on an upward trend personally and professionally, but he’s not allowing himself to settle or become complacent (again). He is constantly thinking about what is next, which includes commissioning as an officer.
“I've always wanted to be a staff sergeant, so I want to make staff sergeant, but after that, I want to commission and become a lieutenant,” he said. “I think some of the best officers I've met have been prior enlisted officers that commissioned over or done the Green to Gold process.”
Having obtained his associate degree just this year, Achtabowski is eyeing the Green to Gold program for a two-birds-one-stone approach: complete his Bachelor of Science degree in sociology and commission as an officer. He later wants to pursue a graduate degree in psychology. Walker, a former enlisted Soldier himself, believes Achtabowski has the traits to succeed as an officer.
“He’ll learn with comparison. With all these positions, and talking to me, and seeing this (commanding general’s team),” said Walker who was commissioned via ROTC from the University of Toledo, Ohio. “He already has an idea of what kind of leader he wants to be to. That's hard to do; none of his peers in ROTC, or however he commissions, are going to know what they're going to get into, right?”
Walker also believes Achtabowski will be malleable and flexible enough to make the transition from enlisted to commissioned, which entails different duties and responsibilities. A common pitfall for prior-service officers, usually referred to as mustangs, is trying to do the jobs of their NCOs.
“He's definitely going to have an openness to switching lanes,” said Walker. “I think his mind will clear up, and he'll be like, ‘Okay, that's not my lane anymore,’ and he'll open it up, and he'll switch. However, his peers will definitely look up to him a lot more, and it's not going to go to his head.”
Regardless of if he switches lanes to the commissioned side of the Army -- Achtabowski will continue to apply discipline to himself, learning and growing along the way, lifting others just as he lifts weights in the gym. He’ll encourage others to use discipline as the foundation of their personal and professional lives. He’s seen success, and he wants to see it in others as he continues in his career.
| Date Taken: | 12.11.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.11.2024 19:51 |
| Story ID: | 487272 |
| Location: | FORT SHAFTER, HAWAII, US |
| Hometown: | BAY CITY, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 2,262 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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