Sgt. Maj. James E. Whitfield

Age: 46

Current Unit: HDQA G-3/5/7 Comprehensive Soldier Fitness

Component: Army

Current location: The Pentagon

Hometown: New Bern, N.C.

Years of Service: 26

Number of deployments: 2

Sgt. Maj. James Whitfield, like many Soldiers, shaped and molded himself into the Soldier he is today through the wisdom he gained from his senior noncommissioned officers. But Whitfield also credits his mother for many of the values he has carried with him throughout his career.

Whitfield recalls his mother as a resilient person; one who was able to bounce back from traumatic events and the adversities she faced throughout her life. This perseverance and resiliency, which was instilled in him, helped him to overcome her death, the biggest trial he has had to overcome. These values also gave him the drive he needed to succeed and get him to where he is now in his career.

When Whitfield joined the Army 26 years ago he was looking for a challenge and hoping to see the world. Since then he has been deployed two times, serving in desert storm/desert shield and more recently in Afghanistan. He is currently the senior enlisted advisor for the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, a program that teaches Soldiers resiliency and ensures that they are not only physically fit, but mentally, socially and spiritually fit too.

While he continues to work hard on current programs and future plans, Whitfield makes sure to find time to pass down the wisdom he has gained, throughout his career, to his three children and his Soldiers: "Don't let your talent take you to a place where your character can not keep you."