Page 17 - Ft. Irwin High Desert Warrior Oct. 2015

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Fort Irwin Sergeant Audie Murphy Club inducts new member
By Public Affairs Office
In a ceremony at Sandy Basin Community Center on
Sept. 2, the coveted Forces Command Sergeant Audie Mur-
phy Award bronze medallion was presented to B Company,
229th Aviation Regiment, 2916th Aviation Battalion’s Staff
Sgt. Jeffrey Clapp.
Honoring Clapp with this singular honor were National
Training Center Commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin and
Command Sgt. Maj. Noe Salinas, who presented the medallion
with its distinctive powder blue ribbon to Clapp. In receiving
this award, Clapp gained entry in Fort Irwin’s Sergeant Audie
Murphy Club, its first inductee in the past 14 months. He did
so in front of 100 NTC senior leaders and SAMC members.
Salinas, a recipient of the SAMA in 1996, described Clapp
as a non-commissioned officer who has gone beyond his daily
duties and responsibilities. He went on to say Clapp has truly
displayed the “Be, Know, Do” that all non-commissioned of-
ficers strive to accomplish and exhibit.
“The program is designed to coach, teach and mentor our
super NCOs,” Salinas said about SAMC. “It singles out the
NCOs who are truly the best and brightest, and provide the
everyday NCO leadership that shapes the rest of the corps of
non-commissioned officers.”
In an interview shortly after the ceremony, Clapp said, “It’s awarded the Sergeant Audie Murphy Award, by successfully
really an honor. I’m still pretty amped up. It’s an awesome re-
HOPE
FOR HEROES and hope for our military, first
responders and their families.
17High Desert Warrior
October 2, 2015
Professional Development
sponsibility. I hope I can give to the club what the club gave me.” Photo by Leslie Ozawa, Public Affairs Office
Command Sgt. Maj. Albert Rodriguez, the 2916th Aviation Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Clapp of B Company, 229th Aviation
Regiment, 2916th Aviation Battalion, is presented the
Battalion’s command sergeant major, who urged Clapp to vie Sergeant Audie Murphy Club medallion by National Training
for the award, noted how eight months ago, he challenged his Center Commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin and Command
battalion NCOs to set their sights on achieving excellence, “to Sgt. Maj. Noe Salinas, Sept. 2.
strive to make themselves a little bit better.”
meetings and activities, including volunteer work for SAMC
“One of the NCO’s who stepped up … is standing before projects, while also studying for the SAMC on various topics
you today,” Rodriguez stated. – but especially depicting what leadership truly is, as exempli-
fied by Sergeant Audie Murphy, the Army’s most decorated
Rodriguez noted how Clapp had followed his brother Ja- Soldier of World War II and later a Hollywood movie star
cob, older by six years and taller by six inches, into the Army. and recording artist.
“Sergeant Clapp, you are no longer the underdog,” Rodriguez
said. “You are the odds-on favorite. But you can’t just go on
your own. You have to make your entire team better. It’s time
to make your entire team the odds-on favorite,” Rodriguez said.
Fort Irwin SAMC President Sgt. 1st Class Wendy Talton
noted the 32 members in the Fort Irwin chapter “serve the
corps of Army Non-Commissioned Officers, from corporals
to first sergeants or master sergeants.”
“We also teach, coach and mentor Soldiers,” Talton said.
“It doesn’t matter what rank they are.”
Talton said that club members are inducted after being
completing a rigorous, four-step screening and selection pro-
cess, including recommendations from their senior NCOs,
passing a performance test, then going before several boards.
Inductees are also mentored by SAMC members at chapter
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