Faces of Strength: Sgt. David Dasilma

By Spc. Jason C. Adolphson (USAG-Yongsan)April 15, 2009

Soldier claims 'Best Warrior-NCO' of the Year victory
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

<strong>YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea</strong> - There's an Army noncommissioned officer who works at the Acute Care Clinic inside Brian Allgood Community Hospital who has yet to deploy, but feels fearless and confident about leading Soldiers into combat.

Sgt. David Dasilma, a published author and winner of the U.S. Army Medical Command "Best Warrior-NCO of the Year" award, says he learns how to succeed through inspiration from other Soldiers and his military experiences.

"It's important to be the Soldier you're trying to develop," Dasilma said. "My command sergeant major (Command Sgt. Maj. Gerald Ecker) said his job is to be the No. 1 Soldier in this battalion. I thought I was the best but he can outrun, outshoot ... He just is that example and I want to follow exactly in his footsteps.

Dasilma said he holds himself to a higher standard.

"People shouldn't be able to beat me if I'm going to lead them, period," he said. "That's not going to happen every time, but as long as that's your goal and you're striving to be the very best - How can you be bad' You can't."

In addition to learning from senior leaders, Dasilma believes it is just as important to learn and develop from the influences of subordinates.

"I learned from going to year boards to have my Soldiers write essays about different topics like what they would do to make the Army better, why they joined and how their experiences have been so far." Disalma said. "The most important thing I've learned from them is that if a Soldier does choose to get out after their initial term, it's still a blessing to have them here putting their best foot forward everyday - rather than coasting through their twenty."

Disalma has written two books that have been published in the past two years. His first book, "The Student Council" was in the works of being published when he first joined the Army. He wrote his second book "Heaven's Devils" in four months.

"Being in the Army and being an NCO has taught me a lot about time management," Disalma said. "I used to be a bit of a procrastinator, but now if I know I have a four-hour block of free time, I set that time aside and do nothing but write for four hours."

Disalma also won the U.S. Army Medical Command "Best Warrior-NCO of the Year" award. He failed to win a board on the 8th U.S. Army level last year and said he thought it was the end.

He was scheduled to attend a Special Forces selection class in late January, but then learned he had another shot at becoming "NCO of the Year."

"I saw this as a way to benefit future Soldiers, my command and myself," Disalma said. "Tasks performed at competitions are great training and I saved some of the op orders for local training."

Disalma said his accomplishments and lessons learned from attending boards strengthened his confidence as a leader, and he feels senior leaders have more confidence in him.

"This competition is a measure of your Army knowledge - every aspect of being a Soldier and soldiering," Disalma said. "Every command sergeant major is going to trust you in those programs that you're simulating at the board. I've never been deployed, but I feel very confident to lead my Soldiers into combat."

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USAG-Yongsan Official Site