Fort Campbell, KY – United States Army Forces Command senior enlisted, Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Sims visits Fort Campbell, Kentucky to recognize the achievements of the retention forces of the U.S. Army, August 24th, 2021.
Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Sims spoke to the FORSCOM retention teams here to express his gratitude to the teams for their hard work over the past year.
“It’s about a higher calling, it’s about something greater than what we are. That’s the reason I re-enlisted the first time,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Sims.
As Sims addressed the crowd of retention Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers, he made it clear in his statement other higher leaders have recognized the percentages of Soldiers who have chosen to raise their hand and reaffirm their oath to serve their country once again.
“It’s not the Sergeant Majors’ achievement, it’s the team sitting in this room right now, and I recognize that.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Sims, arrived here at the beginning of this week to tour the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and gave a speech to all the retention teams, as he addressed the accomplishments of each team.
“I want to say thank you for what you all do, if it wasn’t for this team, we wouldn’t be able to retain as many soldiers as we do!”, Sims shouted as he stood in front of the retention teams.
During his speech, he elaborated on his initial decision to re-enlist, as he has served previously in the Marine Corps as a Mortarman before his rise to Command Sgt. Maj. of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and eventually the Command Sgt. Maj. of the entire FORSCOM.
Currently, the fighting force of the United States Army is 2,274,631 Soldiers, which is one percent of Americans currently accounted for by the Census. The mission of the retention NCO is to keep the numbers of the American fighting forces replenished and serve as career counselors for the Servicemembers who are looking to extend their service or strive for higher callings in the military.
Sims spoke on the difficulty to not only retain a Soldier but further elaborated that during the times that we are in as a fighting force for America, that Soldiers are choosing to continue to serve, saying, “You guys have been doing a phenomenal job, we’re beating and exceeding our mission in retention.”
“It’s all one Army, we’re all one team. We all wear the same uniform,” said Sims. In regard to the re-enlistment numbers of both the Active-Duty component and the Reserve Units combined, “We all serve together when we are downrange, we are all playing for the same franchise.”
Following his comments, they gave recognition to the Career Counselors of the year, Sgt 1st Class Daniel Trujillo (SFAC), Staff Sgt. Daniel Sutter (III Corps), Sgt. 1st Class Morgan Smith (III Corps), Master Sgt. Dustin Thweatt (2 BCT, 101st), and Master Sgt. Peter MacRitchie (20th CBRNE).
Over the generations, our nation has been defended by service members who have consistently answered the call, they have left behind years of blood, sweat, and tears on the battlefield and in the history of the United States of America, and continue to do so even today.
If you feel the urge to do something greater for your country or even looking for a personal adventure, call your local recruiting office today and join the ranks of millions of men and women who have found their calling.
