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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
Nov 19, 2008 - 9:15:26 PM |
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| Sgt. Wayne Worrell, an infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Benning,Ga., fields questions from a board of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division's senior noncommissioned officers at the Sergeant Audie Murphy Board April 28 at Forward Operating Base Falcon. Soldiers who pass the board are inducted into the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, a prestigious organization named for the United States' most decorated service member of World War II. (U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Nathaniel Smith, 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs) |
Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq – Audie Leon Murphy was the United States’ most decorated service member during World War II, received every medal for valor the Army awards, in addition to one Belgian and one French medal. Today, his memory is carried on through the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, which requires special induction by a board of senior noncommissioned officers.
The Audie Murphy Board was held by the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division’s brigade and battalion sergeants major at Forward Operating Base Falcon April 29.
Command Sgt. Maj. James Foreman, sergeant major of the 4th IBCT’s Special Troops Battalion, said the Audie Murphy Board is unique from other boards due to the esteem the accomplishment carries.
“Regular promotion boards are more personal, there’s more money and there’s more rank,” Foreman said. “For this board, there’s no money, no rank. It’s about prestige.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Eddie Fields, the sergeant major of 610th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div., said being invited to the Sergeant Audie Leon Murphy Club is a huge compliment to a noncommissioned officer.
“The Sergeant Audie Leon Murphy Board is unique that it separates an average NCO from a superb NCO,” Fields said. “A superb NCO goes beyond his regular duties and does them without being asked.
“He is truly the ‘Backbone of the Army’.”
The board mirrored the fact that Murphy, who was too short and young to join most of the armed services except the Army, had to work diligently to overcome his small stature to become the best.
Sgt. Kevin Dick, a satellite operation and maintenance team leader with Company C, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div., was one of four out of 17 nominees that proved to be a superb NCO. The Henderson, Nev., said he placed a lot of stress on himself to do well.
“It was without a doubt the most nerve-racking experience I’ve been in,” Dick said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself for it.”
Dick said that while he was taken aback when he found out he had gained admittance to the SAMC, the payoff made it worth the time he invested in it.
“It kind of validates all the studying and all the things that I did to prepare because a lot of effort went into it,” he said. “It was hard not to smile.
“I studied so hard for it and I wanted the people who supported me to know that I did well, I made it, and their support was justified.”
Though it wasn’t like Murphy standing aboard a burning tank destroyer and fighting off swarms of German troops enroute to being awarded the Medal of Honor, the board made the Soldiers think outside the box.
Sgt. Maj. Richard Cunningham, the operations sergeant major and acting command sergeant major for the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division attached to the 4th IBCT, said even the way Soldiers are judged in front of the SAMB is different.
“The Soldier is constantly on display,” Cunningham said. “He’s selling himself the entire time.”
Cunningham said things he looks for while judging an aspiring member of the SAMC are the way he carries himself, his tone and enthusiasm while answering questions and the appearance of his uniform.
The 2-12 Inf. sergeant major said such things reflect on the amount of pride the individual takes in himself and in his unit.
Even the questions are different from regular boards, Cunningham said. The 2-12 Inf. sergeant major said the questions are more situational and require more thinking than simple memorization and regurgitation of facts.
“It makes you think,” he said.
In addition to Dick, Staff Sgt. Douglas Middleton, Staff Sgt. Andrew Schmith, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Whitebull of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division passed the SAMB.
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