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www.aerotechnews.com/ntcfortirwin                                                                                                                                 3High Desert Warrior
                                                                                                                                                                     December 4, 2015

                                                                                                                                                                Leadership

Thirty-one Army years of commitment,

leadership, fulfillment

                By Gustavo Bahena                  to the Army to become a Field Artillery Soldier        ment to leadership roles has a lot to do with char-   Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Esmurria
                                                   through the delayed entry program, he said. He         acter, Esmurria stated as advise to junior Soldiers.
                 Public Affairs Office             wanted to be part of something much larger than                                                              Operating Concept doctrine states the Army
                                                   him. He wanted to be a part of an organization            “You have to live the Army Values and you          must win in a complex world. However, first and
   “It’s been an immeasurable experience being     which had lineage and history.                         have to truly understand this profession that         foremost, leaders have to believe in the concept,
in the Army this long, but it’s been a fulfilling                                                         you’re in, because it is a unique profession if you   believe in the profession and live the Army Values.
time – the entire time.”                              “I wanted to be part of something, part of a        have decided to stay in for the long haul.”           By internalizing those principles, you create com-
                                                   team. Esmurria goes on to say, “I had discipline                                                             mitment and loyalty and devotion to the Army
   Those are the words of Command Sgt. Maj.        in my life but I wanted structure in my life as well,     Esmurria adds that career Soldiers must be         and its mission.
Carlos Esmurria, the senior enlisted advisor for   and the Army was the vehicle for me to become          life-long learners. The only way to grow is to
United States Army Garrison at Fort Irwin. By      a better person. In essence, to become whole.”         learn and seek out education. Expecting others           That commitment and devotion must extend
Dec. 16, he will have been in that position for                                                           to provide answers is not the correct approach.       to individual organizations within the Army to
two years and two months.                             After just a few years as a junior Soldier and                                                            ensure growth and success for the organization
                                                   while stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., Esmurria            “You have to be responsible enough and ac-
   That day, the garrison organization will bid    recognized what great leadership looked like and       countable enough to read, to educate yourself,                                   See ESMURRIA, page 17
farewell and formally acknowledge Esmurria at      decided that was what he wanted to emulate. He         to see where the Army is going and to maneuver
a change of responsibility ceremony. In April of   vividly remembers the persona and professional-        yourself to make the right decisions to further
next year he will have served 32 years in defense  ism of Staff Sgt. Cornelius Young, a Vietnam           promote yourself in whatever goals you have to
of the nation and plans to retire then.            Veteran and Esmurria’s first true mentor. Young        someday become a senior leader in the Army,”
                                                   was the catalyst for Esmurria’s desire to be a leader  Esmurria said.
   Esmurria has been a Sergeant Major since        of Soldiers and at the highest levels as well – as a
August 2005, serving in that capacity with         sergeant major.                                           Simply being in a leadership role does not au-
brigades – which has been the Army’s unit for                                                             tomatically ensure success, according to Esmurria.
combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan –          Young never wasted time, always trained
and finally in a garrison command team. While      Soldiers, studied field manuals, and engaged his          “You have to be a very dynamic leader,”
he acknowledges there is no specific Army school   Soldiers in a way that kept them intrigued and         Esmurria stated, almost as a challenge to today’s
for garrison leadership assignments, after three   wanting to learn more, said Esmurria.                  NCOs.
decades in non-commissioned officer roles, the
Patterson, N.J., native understands that engaged      “He was my first, most influential person in           Leaders must always push themselves, be in-
leadership and understanding organizational        my career that made me who I am today and really       novative, and agile – all the while being able to
structure and culture are the keys to leading ef-  the motivator for me to say, ‘You know what, I’m       motivate Soldiers, said Esmurria. Leaders must
fectively in garrison.                             going to make a career out of this, and that was       continue their education and read doctrine.
                                                   fantastic’,” Esmurria said.
   Esmurria understood early on he had a re-                                                                 “If you’re not reading, you’re not develop-
spect for authority and the military. Even before     A successful career in the Army and advance-        ing – if you don’t understand, how can you lead
graduating high school, he made a commitment                                                              change?” Esmurria asked.

                                                                                                             Esmurria reminds leaders the new Army

Army Infantry School command sergeant

major visits NTC

      By Public Affairs Office      opportunity to showcase the sig-    United States Army Infantry School Command Sgt. Maj. Wilbert Engram (center, right) met with National
                                    nificance and incentive of serving  Training Center and Fort Irwin Command Sgt. Maj. Edison Rebuck (center, left) and other command sergeants
   The senior enlisted advisor for  here – and specifically for NCOs    major of this post during a visit here in November.
the United States Army Infantry     in the infantry branch.
School at Fort Benning, Ga., vis-
ited the National Training Center      The NTC hosts distinguish visi-
and Fort Irwin for several days     tors, many during the 14 training
during training rotation 16-02      days of each rotation, and Rebuck
in November.                        would like to host more command
                                    sergeants major from various Army
   Command Sgt. Maj. Wilbert        career branches. They have an open
Engram met with National Train-     invitation, he said.
ing Center and Fort Irwin Com-
mand Sgt. Maj. Edison Rebuck,          It’s important to exhibit, not
and other command sergeants         just the results of experienced
major of this post, and went to     NCOs coaching and training
the training area while 4th Bri-    the rotational training unit,
gade Combat Team, 4th Infantry      but to also reveal the value of
Division was on its second week     the development acquired while
of training.                        serving here – whether as an
                                    observer, coach, trainer or with
   Rebuck, as the senior enlisted   other units here who impact
advisor to the NTC commander,       the RTUs, 10 times per year,
explained the visit offered an      Rebuck stated.

                                                                                                                                                                For more information go to www.irwin.army.mil
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