Page 4 - FCA Diamond Point Mar 24_Edited

FROM THE CSM OF THE CORPS

Greetings to all fellow Finance and Comptroller Soldiers and Civilians,
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currently serving or supporting!

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This article marks my last submission as your 12 Finance Corps Regimental
Command Sergeant Major. On April 12 at 1030, CSM Craig Rodland will

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assume responsibility as the 13 Finance Corps Regimental CSM. I’ve known
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CSM Rodland many years, having served with him at then, Fort Bragg, now
known as Fort Liberty. He is a stalwart example of an NCO to emulate, but
just as important, an intellectual, and curious. CSM Rodland will no doubt
contribute to legacy of the 12 Regimental CSMs preceding him.

As for myself, I’ve proudly served as a Finance Soldier for nearly 27 years, CSM Dodge
with my wife alongside me for 24 of them. Hardly a day goes by that someone
doesn’t ask, “What’s next?”. As I am writing this, as a matter of fact, I was asked just that for the
second time today. Having given much thought to that difficult question, I can now confidently
say, “I don’t know yet”. My approach to the next chapter will largely mirror the philosophy I’ve
carried and preached in this one. Be ready for opportunity when it presents itself. I’ve learned that
opportunity often doesn’t appear in the form or timeline that you imagine it should, so be open to
many. What has worked for me boils down to three simple principles. Be smart enough to
recognize opportunity for what it is when it presents itself. Be bold enough to reach for it. Finally,
be qualified for whatever it may demand of you. Looking back, this has contributed to an atypical,
but fantastic experience for both my family and I, and it will remain my approach into this next
chapter.

From the day I stepped foot into the recruiter’s office, after being rejected by a plumber for a job in
my senior year of high school, this institution has afforded a life that I could never have imagined.
Nearly eight cumulative years in Korea, a decade serving our nation’s most elite Special Operations
Warriors, Garrison CSM in Okinawa, and then to culminate in this position, reflects a recipe for a
career path that I wouldn’t strictly recommend, but one that I wouldn’t change a bit. I am grateful to
the many leaders who shaped me and my decision at those critical junctures.

Over the last three years, I’ve been privileged to influence initiatives that will radically change how
Finance supports the Army. In those discussions, I carried the origin stories, ambitions, and
accounts of our Soldiers and NCOs who will one day have to prove these investments true. And
they will! It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve them.

Please continue to keep all our FC Soldiers deployed across the world and engaged in real-world
operations in your hearts and minds.

Farewell.

To Support and Serve!

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