WEISBADEN, Germany - Larry Gottardi, the head of the personnel division for U.S. Army Europe hands a gift to Command Sgt. Maj. Christian Carr, the USAREUR personnel division senior noncommissioned officer, during his promotion ceremony to Command Ser...
Promotion is not earned by a Soldier's past achievements, but instead their potential to hold greater positions of responsibility. During Sgt. Maj. Christian Carr's promotion and farewell ceremony the senior leaders that spoke had no shortage of lists of either his accomplishments or his future potential.
Carr, the U.S. Army Europe's personnel division senior noncommissioned officer, was promoted to the rank of Command Sergeant Major, and was honored at a luncheon before his departure to his next duty station at Ft. Jackson, S.C.
"It's not about one Soldier it's about every Soldier and that makes him a good leader," said USAREUR's Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl Lyon.
Mentorship became a recurring theme throughout the ceremony. From simply showing up in the morning to work out with his Soldiers to conducting impromptu leader development programs, he was not only conceiving new ways to mentor Soldiers but was also there to ensure follow through.
"He has both informal mentoring and formal mentoring sessions, none of which was happening before he got here. He's been very innovative," said Larry Gottardi, the USAREUR head of the personnel division.
One of his most valued achievements at USAREUR was instilling PRIDE.
Personnel Readiness Improvement Development teams were Carr's brain child. It involved mobile training teams from USAREUR headquarters traveling to subordinate units to help improve other personnel shops.
"They're constantly on the road doing training updates, mentoring, and professional development of Soldiers and Non-Commissioned Officers," said Gottardi. "He's established very strong relationships with subordinates so that he has their perspective of where they have issues more than what you see on paper."
This was one of the ways that he was able to reach Soldiers beyond the U.S. Army Headquarters level, but also to reach out to help Soldiers throughout Europe, said Lyon.
"We can have things that we want to do all day long, but he makes them a reality. It's that mentality that serves the whole Army, and he takes it with him wherever he goes," said Lyon.
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