Courtesy Photo | Command Sergeant Major Sgt. Maj. Michael Starrett resides over the board for the Drill...... read more read more
Growing up in Dallas, Texas where sports is king and teamwork is everything, Command Sergeant Major Michael Starrett knew he would find a career emulating those values.
It didn’t come right away for the 32-year U.S. Army veteran.
Focused on finding meaningful employment, Starrett became an apprentice carpet installer after graduating high school. Thinking this would be his forever calling, he dedicated his time to perfecting his craft and worked with a friend whose father owned the company. Getting to know the owner through his on-the-job training led to a decision to course correct.
“His father was 45 and broke,” Starrett recalled. “And not just financially. He was physically broke as well.”
Still, he wanted to be part of a team that exuded excellence and was physically demanding, much like his formative years playing every sport available.
The U.S. Army answered that call and in 1990 he signed on to serve his country. He began his career in 1991at then Fort Gordon in Advanced Individual Training as a Wire Systems Installer. His first duty station was in Germany with an Artillery Regiment.
“I spent time in the field, in the snow, on my hands and knees, looking for breaks in the wire connecting tanks to communications systems.” But he excelled and always gave it 100 percent effort.
“Like most Soldiers, I joined for an initial enlistment,” said the career Signaleer. “I made [Noncommissioned Officer] in my first four years and had my eyes on a possible career.”
However, being young and head strong, he encountered an altercation with another student at the NCO academy and ended up being dismissed from the course, ultimately crushing his desire to make the Army a career.
“I had a break in service,” he stated remorsefully. “I was a new father and had a decent job with a communications firm as a manager. But it was all the little things you get from military service (benefits) and you don’t get as a civilian…. It adds up, life adds up and I missed the teamwork, the camaraderie.”
A little less than two years later, he was in the Army again. This time with a renewed focus and more maturity.
He returned to the Army and the Signal Corps in 1996, and the landscape had changed. Fiber optics and SINCGARS radios were transforming the way the Army communicates, and the Army was routinely deployed to hot spots around the world. Starrett recalls in 2014 the Signal Center of Excellence transformed into the Cyber Center of Excellence, marshalling in cyber warfare with communications and the information age. Over the years and several deployments, Starrett found that Signal Soldiers needed to be more flexible and have a broader knowledge, and they refined new skills through cross-training while deployed in real-time operations. “In 2019, the Signal Corps approved MOS convergence of 17 MOS’s into 7 and began convergence training in 2021, giving the Army more flexible and agile Signal Soldiers.”
Though serving in every leadership position starting with Team Chief, his passion and desire for leading Soldiers was amplified as a First Sergeant with the 35th Signal Brigade and then 7th Signal Command (Theater), both assignments at then Fort Gordon. While attending the US Army Sergeants Major Course, he was selected to serve as the 51st Expeditionary Signal Battalion CSM, followed by selection as the Fort Gordon Garrison CSM, and later returned to the 7th Signal Command as their CSM. Starrett assisted MG Christopher Eubank with moving the 7th Signal Command to Fort George G. Meade, MD, before returning to his roots at Fort Eisenhower as the Cyber Center of Excellence CSM.
And it is here where he will hang up his uniform for the last time when he relinquishes responsibility of the CCoE to CSM Timothy McGuire on April 16th. As he transitions to life beyond active duty, he reflects on a career spent being part of a team.
“Be the example, go above and beyond in whatever you do, whether it’s picking up trash or constructing communication networks,” he charged. “I’ve never compromised my standards, and I’ve never performed because of who was looking. Make high standards a part of who you are and what you are known for. I’ve always been competitive and always tried to be the best at what I do. I challenge all Soldiers to do the same.”
As he looks toward the future and maintaining that touchpoint with the military that has been a large part of his life, he plans to stay near and watch the youngest of his four daughters finish school and possibly follow in her older sister’s footsteps (currently a captain in the Air Force) or perhaps her father’s. Footsteps that will lead her to a life of service to our Nation, and maybe even to Fort Eisenhower to witness the mark CSM Starrett has left on the installation and this command.
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2025 15:35 |
| Story ID: | 492793 |
| Location: | FORT EISENHOWER, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | DALLAS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 295 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Leadership Spotlight: Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Starrett and three decades of Signal, by Lesli Ellis-Wouters, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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