Photo By Robert Timmons | Capt. Anthony Velez and Capt. William Norman, both students in the Adjutant General...... read more read more
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One Reserve officer attending the Adjutant General School Captains Career Course, was referred to as the “number one captain out of 12 assigned” to his unit.
Capt. William Norman is a “superior leader,” wrote Lt. Col. Michael Matelski, with the 391st Military Police Battalion, in a packet nominating Norman for the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.
The award recognizes company grade officers who demonstrate the ideals MacArthur stood for - duty, honor, country. Norman received the honor in the Reserve category in a ceremony held recently at Fort Myer, Virginia.
Norman said he was “extraordinarily humbled,” by the distinction because “if you look at just the company commanders in (brigade combat teams), you know, it’s less than 1% who could ever receive the award because of how few there are. If you take in the Reserve component commanders and National Guard commanders, it’s probably half a percent” of eligible officers.
“For a captain to be getting recognized by the Chief of Staff of the Army, it was … a very momentous occasion as anybody could imagine,” he said.
It was an occasion oddly highlighted by chance encounter.
A high school peer of his just happened to be getting awarded at the same time.
“When I got out there and I saw a guy who went to my own high school. What are the odds of that happening?”
The distinction should be instant credibility to him.
He thinks of the award in the same way the Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy A. George put it people will oftentimes put the bust of MacArthur on their desk, and it immediately makes the Soldier more credible.
“Beyond that it puts the onus on you to ensure that you aren’t pacified with where you are at when people come into your office,” Norman said. In this way it will show him he needs to focus much more on his Soldiers.
Norman was lauded by leaders at all levels for his work including his mission focus and leveraging all Army components to generate operational readiness.
As an AG officer in military police battalion, he had the unique ability to reach outside organizations, he said.
“We have the distinct privilege of being people-focused intrinsic to our role,” he said. That focus was on “how we could use our networks outside of our organization to leverage them to impact inside the organization.”
For example, he called on his 30 to 40 contacts to help in case of resiliency issues.
“I had the National Guard and their psychological assistance or resiliency trainers coming out,” he said. “We had a lot of postvention resources come from that.”
Norman’s people focus helped his unit in a number of ways.
“His efforts ensure mission success at every turn,” Matelski wrote.
The AG officer showed his honor by driving more than 250 miles to help the brigade headquarters after the death of a Soldier. The “empathetic people first leader” was the guest speaker at the unit memorial to honor the fellow officer’s service.
According to Matelski, Norman has actively volunteered in his community for over a decade, helping raise over $200,000 annually for schoolchildren while driving more than 1,000 miles annually using 33% of his annual leave.
Norman also volunteered at the recent Cross Country State Qualifier held on post, Nov. 15.
“He epitomizes Duty, Honor, and Country as General MacArthur once did,” Matelski wrote.
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2024 09:51 |
| Story ID: | 487304 |
| Location: | FORT JACKSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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