REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- One noncommissioned officer believes that leading Soldiers starts at the "Top."
Stationed at Fort Buckner, Japan, Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Foldenauer, first sergeant, E Company, 53rd Signal Battalion (Satellite Control), 1st Space Brigade, serves as his unit's senior NCO and handles the leadership and professional development of his Soldiers. In this role, he develops enlisted Soldiers for schools, reenlistment, career development and manages promotions within the company.
"I joined the Army April 19, 2001, at the age of 27," Foldenauer said. "I had been trying to join the military since I was 17, but extremely poor eyesight prevented me from doing so. I had LASIK in 1993, and went into law enforcement. I just happened to walk in to a recruiting station in a strip mall in Omaha, Nebraska, to thank them for their service, and they told me that LASIK would no longer keep me out. I put in my two-weeks' notice that day and shipped off to infantry basic training."
As an infantryman, Foldenauer was assigned to the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia.
"I was a casket bearer for three years, and conducted about 1,500 funerals in Arlington National Cemetery, plus missions at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Capitol, and the White House," he said. "I was in The Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and in the days following, assisted with Operation Noble Eagle."
Foldenauer reclassified in 2004 as a satellite communication systems operator/maintainer and was assigned to 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion in Wiesbaden, Germany. He deployed to Iraq in 2005-2006, and upon returning to Germany, volunteered for drill sergeant duty.
"I was assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, and trained Soldiers on the same ground I was trained, which was awesome," he said.
His next assignments were in Wiesbaden and Landstuhl, Germany, where he had his first experience with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.
From Landstuhl, Foldenauer was sent to the 333rd Signal Company in Okinawa, Japan, as the Satellite Communications Systems chief, and while there, he was selected to serve as the E Company first sergeant.
"I will have approximately nine to 10 months of serving in, what I can honestly say is the best company in the best battalion in any major command in the entire U.S. Army," he said.
As first sergeant, Foldenauer said he is responsible for acting as the Soldier's voice to the commander, and providing him with moral, ethical and legal counsel.
"The Soldiers have the right to expect me to conduct myself as an expert and a professional at all times," he said. "That means I must maintain my technical and tactical proficiency, ensure my constant readiness, and hold myself to the highest standards at all times. No one in this unit outranks the standard.
"I am fully responsible for every action and inaction, every success and every failure, executed by my Solders," Foldenauer added. "Every Soldier failure is tied in some way to a leadership failure, and the primary responsibility for any failure in this unit lies with me."
When describing what he admires about serving with USASMDC/ARSTRAT, Foldenauer said he has never seen an organization that was more proficient at the art and science of mission command than SMDC and its subordinate units.
"This is with good reason, given the geographically dispersed nature of our formations," Foldenauer said. "Our success in this regard is the direct result of the strong bonds of trust that have been cultivated at all levels of leadership, the incredibly agile and adaptive leaders that we have developed at all levels.
"These foundational organizational traits enable the highest level of readiness and responsiveness, and ensure world class support to our customers," he added.
Foldenauer went so far as to say that E Company has been his favorite place to serve.
"If I could sit down with the Army and then hand pick every human being that became a part of that team, I don't think I could put together a better organization with a more important mission that was better equipped, trained, or prepared to achieve excellence in execution," he said. "This is going to be a tough act to follow. The lessons learned here will be among the most valuable of my career, and they will be carried forward to future units."
He then talked about who has been his biggest influence.
"As a partner, my wife reminds me of the importance of balance and self-awareness," Foldenauer said. "As an Army spouse, she reminds me that my Soldiers have families, and those families have an equal right to outstanding leadership, just like their service members. As a person, she reminds me that I am flawed, in the nicest way possible, and that constant self-improvement through goal setting and hard work is the key to a successful life."
Foldenauer then gave some advice to young Soldiers beginning their careers.
"Take ownership of your readiness, your development and your attitude," he said. "You cannot control the quality of leader you receive, but you can influence the quality of leadership you receive. You cannot determine the demands that will be placed upon you by your mission, but you can take personal responsibility for maintaining your readiness to perform any mission. You cannot change the fact that we serve in a world in conflict, and that it's not going to be all sun and rainbows every day, but you are the command climate, and your positive, resilient attitude can and will have a direct impact on your success."
As a proponent of professional reading, Foldenauer also said he believes that all NCOs should be constantly reading about their profession.
"I love reading," he said. "I used to read a lot of escapist literature, and my favorites were Stephen King, Arthur Conan Doyle and James Clavelle. I am currently reading 'The 33 Strategies of War' by Robert Greene, and I keep Miyamoto Musashi, Sun Tzu, William J. Bennett, and Casper Weinberger on my table.
"I get more out of old-fashioned paper books that I can make notes in," Foldenauer added. "This is an old profession we are engaged in, and there is one or two folks that have come before us who have learned a thing or two that we can use."
He then remarked about how the Soldiers he has served with past and present have made his choice to be a Soldier on of the best decisions he ever made.
"I am proud and humbled to be here," Foldenauer said. "I will always be thankful to the Soldiers for making this the best job I've ever had."
Social Sharing