Photo By Laura Levering | U.S. Army Signal Regiment leaders from Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, along with the Signal...... read more read more
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The U.S. Army Signal Regiment held a leader professional development (LPD) session April 22 featuring 25th Regimental Command Sgt. Maj. Linwood E. Barrett as guest speaker.
Hosted by the Signal Corps Regimental Association (SCRA), the LPD was an opportunity for signal leaders – active duty and retired – to network and engage in meaningful discussions relevant to leading in today’s Army. The evening began with dinner and mingling, then transitioned to an informal seminar led by Barrett.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Sheldon Moorer introduced Barrett, describing him as “an engaged” leader that everyone knows and “who is very personal” because he genuinely cares about others’ well-being. Moorer shared a snippet of Barrett’s bio, noting that although he and Barrett did not meet until years later into their service, each enlisted as a 25U (signal support specialist) and served in the 1990s. At the time, 25Us were the only Signaleers authorized to serve in combat arms units and were known as “combat Signaleers.”
“I share this because … if you go to different installations throughout the Army, from the two-star divisional level to the three-star corps level, there is not a commander or a command sergeant major that’s out there who does not know our Signal Corps Regimental Command Sergeant Major – and that speaks volumes.”
Moorer urged leaders in the room to pay close attention to what Barrett had to share during the LPD.
“We take all the good things from those that have served before us … and then when you go back to your formations, you spread that word,” Moorer said.
Barrett opened the floor by doing what comes naturally as a leader: putting people first. For the LPD, he did this by first encouraging attendees to ask him any questions, which he assured he would respond to honestly.
“Collectively speaking, this room is filled with a lot of knowledge to where you can leave here with some ‘super nuggets’ that you can take back to your formations,” Barrett said. “Let’s talk.”
Following several questions and professional discourse, Barrett presented a condensed summary of what he believed are key aspects of leader development – one aspect being that it never stops.
“Normally, we go to work, we do what we gotta do, and then we go home,” Barrett said. “Leader development is supposed to take place all day, every day, Monday through Sunday; not just once a month.”
Barrett then posed the question, “What does leader development mean to you from that perspective?”
Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Stadler, 551st Signal Battalion, agreed with Barrett, saying that sometimes leader development means spending late nights at the office to “figure things out” when an NCO stops by.
“It’s 24/7,” Stadler said. “It takes time, it takes Saturday phone calls … I learned all that through watching [Barrett], and it never stops.”
After sharing more knowledge “nuggets” from his nearly 30 years of service, Barrett challenged Signaleers to self-reflect and ask themselves what they can do to be the best possible version of an Army leader.
“Selfless service is what comes to mind,” Barrett said. “When you put selfless service in your job description, and you ask yourself what that means … that whole thing about ‘an NCO or a leader eating last’ isn’t just because it sounds good. If someone is going to starve, it’s supposed to be you; not the Soldier.”
Closing out the LPD, Barrett asked if there were any final questions of him, to which Stadler asked what Barrett hopes his legacy is. Barrett, who is days away from retiring, said that he has given that question a lot of thought but hasn’t entirely figured out how to summarize it yet.
“If today was the only opportunity I had to say it, I would probably go down the road of something to the effect of, ‘You just gotta be a good human being, you gotta take care of people, and everything else will work itself out. That’s it,” Barrett said. “And that’s what I try to do – even to the point of where I suffer, because I do believe in selfless service, and that’s what we’re supposed to do … that’s the way I want to go out.”
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2025 11:21 |
| Story ID: | 496192 |
| Location: | FORT EISENHOWER, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
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