Photo By Spc. Cal Turner | Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Sanders, the former top enlisted noncommissioned officer for...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
1st Air Cavalry Brigade Public Affairs
TAJI, Iraq – Command Sgt. Maj. Donald R. Sanders, the former top noncommissioned officer for the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, will be the next U.S. Army Aviation Warfighting Center and Fort Rucker command sergeant major.
In a change of responsibility ceremony Jan. 22 at Fort Rucker, Ala., Sanders will replace Command Sgt. Maj. Buford Thomas Jr., who will retire with more than 30 years of service. Thomas has held the position since January 2005.
Sanders, a Miami native, was the 1st ACB command sergeant major for over four years and served at Fort Hood for more than eight years.
He also served temporarily as the 1st Cavalry Division's top noncommissioned officer from November 2005 to March 2006 to fill the gap between outgoing Command Sgt. Maj. Neil Ciotola and incoming Command Sgt. Maj. Phillip F. Johndrow.
Sanders entered the Army in 1979 and his previous assignments include stints at: Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Hood; Fort Rucker; Germany; and Korea.
In 1990, he deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Sanders deployed to Taji, Iraq, with the 1st ACB – then the 4th Brigade Combat Team – from 2004 to 2005. He was integral in the brigade's humanitarian aid missions for Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and two relief missions for earthquake victims in Pakistan.
He was selected to interview for the U.S. Army Aviation Warfighting Center and Fort Rucker position in September as the 1st ACB was beginning to return to Taji, Iraq. He was replaced by Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Spiva, Sutter Creek, Calif., when the brigade assumed authority of the Multinational Division-Baghdad aviation mission Nov. 15 in Iraq.
"When Command Sergeant Major [Donald] Sanders was selected to interview for this position, it was the right thing to do for our [aviation] branch to let him interview," said Col. Daniel Shanahan, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade commander, a native of Traverse City, Mich. "It was tough on the brigade to lose our command sergeant major as we headed out to war. But, it was exactly the right thing to do for our Army. He will help bring the Army's Aviation Branch to a whole new level.
"My wife, Mindy, and I relish the time we had to spend with Lynn and Don Sanders. We wish them the best as they go on to bigger and better things," Shanahan said.
In Sanders, Soldiers of Fort Rucker – and in the Aviation Branch as a whole – will be getting both a role model and mentor.
"He's very in tune with the needs of the aviation community," said Sgt. 1st Class Noe Barrera, 1st ACB logistics noncommissioned officer in charge, a native of Zapata, Texas. "You know where he stands, you know where he's leading you, and he'll never lead you astray. He takes the time to mentor Soldiers and not only tell them what they need to be doing, but show them how to get there."
| Date Taken: | 01.10.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 01.10.2007 10:03 |
| Story ID: | 8778 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 572 |
| Downloads: | 95 |
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