NCO driven by desire to excel

By Crystal Lewis BrownOctober 1, 2009

NCO driven by desire to excel
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Rank, name

Staff Sgt. David Townsend

Unit

U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School

Military Occupational

Specialty / Job title

56 M, chaplain assistant / AIT instructor

Years in service

10 (two years as a Reservist)

Family

Married

Highest education

MBA

Hobbies

Cycling, doing PT, marksmanship

FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- In the eight years Staff Sgt. David Townsend has served, he has been stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., and Naples, Italy. He has also been deployed to Iraq.

Townsend said his most memorable experience during his eight years in the Army came from his Basic Combat Training drill sergeant.

"He was the embodiment of what I thought a Soldier should be," he said. "That was the person I wanted to be just like."

He said what has influenced him most throughout his career is his drive to be the best.

He said he has "a desire to excel at what I'm doing, to be the best at what I'm doing and to make the Soldier the best they can be. That's what keeps driving me."

His future goals include continuing to train Soldiers, whether in his current job or in another one. Another of his goals is one he said is shared by many others in his military occupational specialty.

"The ultimate job for any enlisted (chaplain assistant) is to be a command sergeant major at USACHCS," he said.

His advice to junior enlisted Soldiers is that they not only learn all of the intricacies of their job, but to also learn others' jobs so they can help out when needed.

"Get as much training as you possibly can, as much as you can get," he said. "Don't waste any training time."