Photo By Sgt. Anthony Hooker | Army Reserve Master Sgt. Alphonzo Major is congratulated by Lt. Col. Eric Ruthman and...... read more read more
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The 359th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade held a retirement ceremony for Master Sgt. Alphonzo Major Jan. 6 at the Army Reserve Training Center on Fort Gordon, Ga. Major, the noncommissioned officer in charge of food service for the 359th TTSB, received a Meritorious Service Medal in recognition for over 32 years of service in the Army and Army Reserve.
Major, a Charleston, S.C. resident, remarked that putting the interest of the soldiers first is what motivated him to put on his uniform and provide service for such a lengthy period of time.
“I was honored to have the opportunity to learn the latest efforts the Army had and also be able to provide a service to a unit,” said Major, who works as a Step 4 welder at the Detyen Ship Yard. “I travel three hours each way when I come to drill, but I always felt I was getting away from the rat race of regular life. It was motivating, not stressful.”
During his two years as the brigade’s food service sergeant, Major, 60, served in multiple Grecian Firebolt exercises. Under his leadership, the unit had no training accidents or incidents. Major also provided efficient leadership during dire circumstances. From 2004 to 2005 Major supported Operation Iraqi Freedom when he was the senior food service operations sergeant in Iraq with the 227th Transportation Company, running over 90 missions to forward operating bases. He also ran a dining facility feeding over 2100 Soldiers and Department of Defense civilians on a daily basis.
“The last thing a Soldier wants to hear is a hostile voice when getting a meal,” Major said. “You need to have a relationship with the people you are serving, to let people know that you are serving them in the proper spirit.”
A married father of five, Major also was instrumental in helping the 942nd Transportation Company receiving the Phillip A. Connelly Award in 2002, which is awarded to the top performing food service organization each year for record keeping, menus, cooking procedures, site preparations, and the quality of food in garrison and field environments.
Major said Army training taught him to make hygiene, sanitation, and safety the highest priorities. In an award letter submission, Chief Warrant Office 2 Antoinette Griffin wrote that Major’s operational knowledge of the Mobile Kitchen Trailer was exemplary and contributed to the high praise the Connelly award brings to its winners. Major said those complements and awards only happen from an inspired approach.
“If you don’t take this role seriously,” he said, “you’ll never know how much damage that [you will allow] to impact a company, battalion, brigade.”
Major’s contemporaries emphasized the sort of void the unit would have without his readily accessible knowledge and experience.
“Anyone with over 20 years in service… you won’t be able to replace,” said Command Sgt. Major Thomas Wilkerson, brigade command sergeant major for the 359th TTSB. “It takes an organization five to 10 years to find someone proficient enough to take their place.”
“Everyone talks about their [military specialty], but a leader has to be a counselor – they must have a background of events and specialties that help Soldiers relate when difficulties arise.”
Staff Sgt. Karen Kendrick, the food service NCOIC of the 324th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, has worked under Major’s leadership for over a year. Kendrick said their relationship was more of a brother-sister connection than coworkers at times. She pointed out how Major’s desire to give Soldiers lessons even on his final drill weekend revealed the quality of his leadership.
“During drill weekend, he was teaching our cooks how to make sauces and gravy from scratch,” Kendrick recalled. “His learning environment was very relaxed. He made it easy to have discussion points during instruction . . . he allowed a lot of give and take.”
Major said that work as a Reservist meant he would have to implement military standards over limited time. To make the teaching lessons resonate, Kendrick observed that Major would infuse personal experiences when emphasizing points to young Soldiers.
“Today’s Army asks its members to embrace a ‘green’ menu: a low-fat, low-calorie, variety of nutritious meals,” Kendrick said. “He and I were trained early in our career on a lot of meals that were more loosely created – you know, a little bit of this and that.”
“He was able to bridge the gap by taking the basic recipe foundation and describing [a series of priorities] so the Soldiers could adapt to.”
Major said he combined a little humor with hands-on training in an effort to help break his lessons down enough that points of discussions were easy to follow.
“My number one goal with the young Soldiers is to let them know how important proper food preparation is in a mission,” Major said. “If I am able to, on the smallest level, use direct observation to assess a group’s ability, I can understand what they are missing and what information I have that they can put to best use for the company’s benefit.”
Major initially entered the Army as a watercraft operator but said that he didn’t take too well to the job.
“I used to get more paint on my clothes than on the ship,” Major joked.
Major said food service suited him because he liked that he could make a connection with soldiers by offering something as simple as a hot meal. He also was motivated by the lack of consideration he’d seen cooks before he switched jobs.
“A lot of [cooks] would treat [soldiers] like they were not people, like they were hogs or something,” he recalled. “They would refuse to give seconds even if troops were in the field or extra portions were available.”
“I vowed that I would do what I could to make soldiers feel comfortable.”
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2013 19:42 |
| Story ID: | 101568 |
| Location: | FORT GORDON, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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