Capt. Jacob “Jake” Jeffire, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division was honored as a recipient of the Department of the Army (HQDA) General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award for 2023, June 5.
Jeffire, who is originally from Clinton Township, Michigan, was one of 27 recipients chosen from across the three Army Components, Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard.
“Jake Jeffire is the type of leader that makes entire organizations better. Presence, technical and tactical expertise, confidence; he’s got it all. He is absolutely deserving of this distinguished award,” Lt. Col. Sean Castilla, commander, 3-8 CAV, said.
The Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award (GDMLA) is awarded annually to U.S. Army Captains and Chief Warrant Officer Twos who demonstrate the ideals for which Gen. MacArthur stood for, duty, honor, and country and promotes and sustains effective junior officer leadership in the Army.
Like most leaders, Capt. Jeffire is very humble about being spotlighted as one of the Army’s top junior-grade officers. He maintains that he got to where he is because of his leaders and soldiers and that is it not all about him.
Jeffire believes his longevity with 1st Cavalry Division is the reason he was chosen, he has been with the division for nearly five years and has completed deployments to the Republic of Korea, Poland and participated in Operation Allies Welcome.
Jeffire has completed numerous rotations to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, CA, as well as serving a company commander twice. All this helped Jeffire gain the knowledge, expertise and skills needed to become one of the best junior-grade officers in the Army.
“Knowing your equipment and how to use it. You can’t uphold the standard if you don’t know the standard yourself. If you don’t know your equipment even if you are new to the formation, that’s your priority. Know how to use it, maintain it, utilize it, an detach others to do the same,” Jeffire, said when asked what advice he would give his fellow company-grade officers.
The Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award ceremony is scheduled for later this year in Washington, D.C.
Social Sharing