Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Gaelen Lowers | 100917-A-4424L-002 Command Sgt. Maj. Clifton Johnson, command sergeant major of the...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq - Coming home means different things to different people. For Command Sgt. Maj. Clifton Johnson, command sergeant major of the 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and Lima, Ohio, native, the opportunity to come home was “an honor and a privilege.”
“There’s no place I would rather be than here with the 26th,” said Johnson at the 26th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division’s non-commissioned officer induction ceremony. “As a command sergeant major, to come back and speak at an NCO induction ceremony at the first battalion that you led into combat, that’s pretty exciting to me.”
Johnson spoke to 17 “Challenger” soldiers Sept. 17 at Forward Operating Base Marez, Iraq, during their induction ceremony, focusing on the importance of becoming an NCO and what the NCO Corps means.
“As leaders, we want newly promoted noncommissioned officers to realize that it is a huge step,” he said. “It’s not just a promotion. Now those Soldiers are joining the time-honored corps, the backbone of the Army, the trainer of all Soldiers, regardless of their rank.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Jimmy Pegues, command sergeant major of the 26th BSB, and a Thomasville, N.C., native, echoed Johnson’s sentiments about the NCO Corps.
“It’s an Army tradition,” he said. “This is so newly promoted sergeants can understand the values and history of being a noncommissioned officer.”
Many soldiers said it is a great honor to be inducted into the Corps of the Noncommissioned Officers. Some, like Sgt. Christopher Allen, an armorer with Company B, 26th BSB, and a New Port Richey, Fla., native, were in the battalion when Johnson was their command sergeant major. Allen said it was an added bonus to have him there to see him cross that threshold into the NCO Corps.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “I remember he used to call us ‘stud’ every time he would see us. To see him up there inducting me as an NCO means a lot to me. He smiled when he saw me up there on the stage.”
That smile was one of remembrance, said Johnson.
“When he first got to the 26th, he was a [private second class],” said Johnson of Allen. “I ran into several soldiers who were privates when I was a battalion [command sergeant major], and to see them become noncommissioned officers is huge. It also feels good to know that you might have sparked something back in them. It’s pretty awesome to see.”
Johnson stated that, wherever he goes in the United States Army, the 26th BSB will always hold a special place in his heart.
“I used to tell them that they are the greatest brigade support battalion in the United States Army,” he remembered. “Then to go into combat and have them prove it. Not only did I think they were, but during [Operation Iraqi Freedom III], they proved they were. They have no other choice but to hold a special place in my heart.”
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.03.2010 08:51 |
| Story ID: | 57420 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 9 |
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