Air Defense Artillery sweeps quarterly awards

By Cannoneer staffMarch 29, 2012

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Staff Sgt. Matthew Seelig, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 31st Air Defense Artillery, and Spc. Chad Puterbaugh, D Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd ADA, were named the Fires Center of Excellence Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Quarter re... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. -- A platoon sergeant and a communications specialist from the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade were named the Fires Center of Excellence Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Quarter respectively, for first quarter fiscal 2012.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Seelig, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 31st ADA, and Spc. Chad Puterbaugh, D Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd ADA, were honored at a ceremony March 22 at the Patriot Club.

Seelig was also inducted into the prestigious NCO fraternity, the Fort Sill Chapter of the Sgt. Audie Murphy Club during the ceremony.

"It means the world to me," Seelig said of his SAMC membership. "I'm taking the next step to continue my career in the Army noncommissioned officer corps, not only to help myself but to help my peers and subordinates."

Seelig, 25, said his wife, Bethany, helped him prepare for the rigorous SAMC boards.

"He had a study guide and I would ask him questions from it," Bethany said. "I remember one night we went for five hours straight, and he was falling asleep so I had to keeping waking him up to keep studying."

During the SAMC ceremony, Pfc. Janesika Gause introduced Seelig, who is her supervisor.

"He is all about the Army standards, and a really good NCO," said Gause, a supply specialist. "He wants me to be the best Soldier that I can possibly be."

Only in the Army about 15 months, Puterbaugh, 26, said his selection was in part because of the support he received from his fellow Soldiers.

"I had been working really hard for this, and I could not have done this without my unit, because a lot of people helped me out," said Puterbaugh, a communications switch operator and maintainer.

Puterbaugh's supervisor Sgt. Joseph Stanley introduced him to the crowd.

"He always strives for excellence. When he does something, he does it right the first time," Stanley said.

Stanley, who participated in the NCO quarter boards, said working with Puterbaugh helped broaden his own knowledge of the Army, which helped him in his competition.

Speaking about his two air warriors, keynote speaker Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Kogut, 31st ADA CSM, said they are Fort Sill's finest professionals of the quarter.

Kogut explained how Seelig persevered through the SAMC and NCO boards even though he had a newborn in the household and a wife, who was experiencing complications.

The CSM also described how Puterbaugh approached him and asked for recommendations about local charities that he could donate to from his monetary gifts as Soldier of the Quarter.

"They are ready for the next level," Kogut said.

Speaker Col. Brian Dunn, FCoE and Fort Sill chief of staff, thanked the families, the sponsors, and Seelig and Puterbaugh.

"Being a part of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, being the Soldier and NCO of the Quarter is not just about board preparation," Dunn said. "This is a committment by the individual and the chain of command to wanting to be the best. That's what being a great leader is about."

The honorees each received the Army Commendation Medal and many gifts from Fort Sill and community sponsors.