ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. ---- A First Army personnel management officer is now wearing a rank attained by less than one-tenth of one percent of those in uniform. Chief Warrant Officer 5 Darryl Sams was promoted in a ceremony on Sept. 18 in the foyer of First Army headquarters here.
A chief warrant officer 5 is a technical and tactical expert performing at the highest level. They provide leader development, mentorship, and advice to fellow warrant officers and branch officers.
Sams previously served with First Army in mobilized status for a total of four years in two stints. That included being chief of personnel actions when First Army relocated from Fort Gillem, Ga., to Rock Island Arsenal, Ill. "That was a busy time," Sams said, laughing, but not joking.
Sams realizes the significance of his new rank and said he felt "blessed and fortunate" when he found out. Indeed, he is one of only two chief warrant officers 5 in First Army headquarters, and First Army commanding general, Lt. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, said Sams is the right man to fill this unique role.
"Chief Sams has diligently served our Army for more than 34 years and has excelled at every assignment and his promotion testifies to his stellar background," he said. "His experience, wisdom, and capabilities all underscore his potential to serve at the next level and his potential is unlimited. He epitomizes our nation's proficient warrior professionals that our current and future Army formations and leaders require. His date of rank is actually June 26, so he's been out of uniform, so we're going to do an on-the-spot correction."
Tucker continued, noting that Sams' selection as a chief warrant officer 5 signifies that the Army recognizes that he is "a master-level technical and tactical expert who performs the primary duties of technical leader, manager, integrator, and advisor."
Sams said it is fulfilling to serve in those roles and he added that "my favorite aspect of the job is interacting with Soldiers, I love it."
Warrant officers occupy a distinctive place in Army hierarchy, outranking the sergeant major of the Army, but sitting below a freshly-minted second lieutenant. Sometimes even Soldiers in the same office don't understand what they can contribute.
"The most common misperception is that people don't understand our roles, what we do and our value-added to the organization," Sams said. "A lot of organizations don't know how to use warrant officers until they see what we can do and the impact we can have."
In 1996, Sams was a sergeant first class torn between trying to be an officer or warrant officer. He went with the latter partly because they are allowed to stay in service longer.
"I had a mentor who went to warrant school the year before I did, and he said, "You ought to try this out, you'd be OK with it,'" Sams recalled. "We went to see a recruiter, and from then on, it's been awesome."
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