Speaking with Clyde Surratt, a seasoned supervisor with the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command’s Materiel Fielding and Training (MF&T) Division, you quickly realize why he is one of 11 Army personnel who have been awarded this year’s Louis Dellamonica Award for Outstanding U.S. Army Materiel Command Personnel of the Year.
Surratt, in his own words, aptly “sums himself up” by saying, “My life has always been about the Soldier.” For many, this is an accurate picture of Surratt — his day-to-day reality includes routine facetime with individual Soldiers to provide one-on-one training, a truck with Army-branded bumper stickers and, according to Surratt’s supervisor, “… a track record of absolute commitment; the first one to fill in in times of need to ensure the success of the mission.” For someone with a significant career in the Army, in both uniform and now as a civilian, this recognition and receipt of such a prestigious award seems like a fitting form of appreciation for someone who left his home in Georgia to “see the world from the back of a truck ….”
Surratt, who considers himself first and foremost an enabler of Soldiers, prides himself on how fortunate he is to have the opportunity to directly work with Soldiers. It’s an accurate distinction. While everyone at the Arsenal makes their respective contributions to the welfare of Soldiers, Surratt quite literally gets to see the undeniably positive impact he has on the military by engaging face-to-face with the Soldiers themselves. Among his many roles, Surratt helps develop, critique and deliver hands-on training on a routine basis. “For me, it’s about making sure that the Soldier gets proper equipment and training,” Surratt says.
His supervisor, Jeff Mounts, division chief, MF&T, couldn’t agree more, saying, “[Surratt] is always very engaged. He leads from the front and his actions match what he says.” Given that, during our interview, Surratt commented, “Without the Soldier, what would we be here for? [Soldiers whom I’ve trained] still come back to see me … there’s just something you feel on the inside about that.” It’s then unsurprising that Surratt is the kind of individual deserving the Dellamonica Award as an example of outstanding Army personnel.
But as unsurprising as Surratt is in that regard, what is surprising is the individual behind the professional. Surratt works here at the Arsenal after having served 20 years in the Army as a uniformed member, a career that found its roots in the peaceful foothills of old Georgian carpet manufacturing country. Surratt chuckles while we talk of our hometowns as he challenges me, myself a Georgia native, to recall the whereabouts of his hometown. In a rare insight into the man behind the professional, Surratt recalls his early days, noting that his memory of them directly fuels his work today:
I grew up on a farm [in Georgia], and when I turned 17 years old, I joined the Army and never looked back. My father worked in a carpet mill throughout his life. My mother worked in a poultry mill throughout her life. For me to join the Army and go out and see the world from the back of a truck — that was pretty exciting.
It’s a small wonder then that for someone who still sees himself in the back of an Army (and probably Detroit-made) truck that such specific attention to individual members of the service would come so naturally and consistently.
My alma mater’s lyrics start with the refrain “From humble farm beginnings, sprung up from the sandy earth ….” For the career professional who indeed sprung up from humble farm beginnings and sandy earth, this unfamiliar recognition is fitting for the quality and breadth of work Surratt does. The Detroit Arsenal congratulates our own Clyde Surratt on his recognition for the Louis Dellamonica Award as well as his phenomenal work and contributions to the individual Soldier and to the whole of the Army Materiel Command.
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