Master Sergeant William M. Goode III, former senior career counselor for 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, recently won the U.S. Army Forces Command Sergeant Major Marty Boyd-Gray Retention Excellence Award in Leadership competition.
The event was hosted at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
The REAL competition is the first of its kind and a chance for senior career counselors to gain recognition for the works they do - FORSCOM is the only command hosting this competition. Typically Army units conduct internal career counselor competitions, but this is the first of its kind for senior career counselors.
"I knew it'd be different then the regular competition and was excited to be there," said Goode, who was assigned to 1st BCT at the time of the competition. "I was selected out of the 101st and then competed in the 18th Airborne Corps, then to FORSCOM."
Goode outdid the other 101st Abn. Div. senior career counselors," said Sgt. Maj. Matthew J. Middleton, command career counselor, 101st Airborne Division.
"We are excited to have someone from the 101st win the FORSCOM competition," Middleton added.
The competition started with senior career counselors being nominated from units across FORSCOM. To be eligible, the senior career counselors had to be a sergeant first class or a master sergeant with at least six months as a senior career counselor.
Once nominated, each senior career counselor was tested against his or her peers. Five of them made it to the final stage of competition.
At the final stage, the five had to undergo a staff inspection administered by a command career counselor. They then wrote an essay about a subject chosen by the panel of judges. The senior career counselors then had to conduct an Army Physical Fitness Test followed by retention scenario-based assessments.
"The hardest part for me were the scenarios," Goode said. "We had an hour to complete them and that amount of work would usually take me all day to complete."
To wrap up the competition, the senior career counselors went in front of a board of command career counselors.
"I became a career counselor because I wanted a change from my job as a radio and communication security repairer," Goode said. "My mentor at the time was a career counselor and he showed me the job and got me into it, which was the best career decision I ever made."
Goode has now moved on to his next Army assignment.
"We were sad to see him move on to FORSCOM," Middleton said. "He did great work here and we know he is going to continue to do great work at his new job."
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