Ironhorse trooper named MND-B Career Counselor of the Year

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Cupp | Staff Sgt. James Ray, a career counselor for the 1st 'Ironhorse' Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Cavalry Division who hails from Section, Ala., assists Anchorage, Alaska, native Spc. Loren Sutton, a supply specialist from Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st BCT, with Army career options, showing him the many possible career paths available. Ray was recently named the Multi-National Division-Baghdad Career Counselor of the Year and will compete in the Multi-National Corps-Iraq Career Counselor of the Year board at Camp Liberty, Iraq, Oct. 6.  

TAJI, IRAQ

10.05.2007

Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

By Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp
1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Staff Sgt. James Ray, a career counselor for the 1st "Ironhorse" Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Cavalry Division was recently selected as the Multi-National Division-Baghdad (MND-B) Career Counselor of the Year.

Ray beat out three other MND-B career counselors in a board held at Camp Liberty, Iraq, Sept. 29, which was designed to test their knowledge on such things as the Army Retention Program, the re-classification of Soldiers and writing contracts for active and reserve component troopers.

"This unquestionably is the highlight of my Army career, and I couldn't be more proud," said Ray, who hails from Section, Ala., also explaining that he faced some tough competition. "We were all selected based on our successful completion of the commander's retention program and for doing well in assisting with and surpassing our retention mission."

For Fiscal Year 2007, which ended Oct. 1, the Ironhorse Brigade reenlisted more than 1,000 Soldiers in theater and handed out more than $10 million in cash bonuses to the reenlisting troopers.

Throughout the fiscal year, Ray worked in a combined effort with retention non-commissioned officers in the 1st Brigade Support Battalion; the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment and Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. as they wrote contracts for 268 of those reenlisting troopers.

Ray stressed, however, that being a good career counselor has nothing to do with numbers but is all about helping Soldiers reach their career goals whether that means helping them attain all the reenlistment options they are entitled to or with deciding to move from an Army career to the civilian sector.

"Our success in the brigade is because we have a good combination of great leadership and high quality Soldiers," said Ray. "When Soldiers receive proper counseling to assist them in making wise career decisions, they're going to continue serving in the Army. When a Soldier comes in, I'll try to match their personal desires with the needs of the Army, and try to accommodate them the best I can."

"We don't like to pressure Soldiers as it tends to make them feel like they're not important to you," added Ray. "We have a commitment to the Soldiers and regardless of their decision, we're not only here to retain them, but to help them transition into civilian lives as well."

Ray said he understands all too well the way Soldiers who are thinking about getting out of the Army feel. He was considering it too while serving as a nuclear, biological, and chemical non-commissioned officer until a twist of fate put him on a new career path.

"At a time when I was seriously thinking about getting out of the Army, my battalion was over-strengthed and I was suddenly appointed as the full-time battalion reenlistment NCO," said Ray, who did not particularly care for his job as an NBC specialist. "There I found a renewed enjoyment of the Army and decided to put in my packet to become a career counselor."

Ray graduated from the Army's Basic Career Counselor Course at Fort Jackson, S.C. in August of 2006 and arrived to the Ironhorse Brigade in September 2006.

"It's better than any other job in the Army and it's the most satisfying job I've ever held either in the civilian world or the military," said Ray. "I look forward to coming into work every day and taking care of Soldiers and I honestly believe in what I'm doing."

After nearly 12 and half years of service in the Army, Ray said although it can be difficult being away from home his family accepts his decision to continue his career in the Army.

"My wife's not happy that I'm gone from home, but she definitely understands my career and what it entails to include deployments," said Ray.

For his future goals, Ray plans on spending a 30-year career in the Army, eventually achieving the rank of sergeant major.


"I'd really like to become the Army's G1 command career counselor—that's as high as you can go in the career counselor field," said Ray. "I just want to be able to influence the Army retention field in a positive way by coming up with inventive ways to help Soldiers and what better way for me to do that than from the top."

Those Soldiers who work with Ray said that he was deserving of receiving the career counselor of the year award.

"His dedication to the career counselor field and to the Soldiers is what made him career counselor of the year," said Staff Sgt. Nick Byse, a retention non-commissioned officer for the 1st BCT who hails from Long Beach, Calif.

"He put in a lot of time and effort, putting in long hours to study for the board," said Sgt. 1st Class Humberto Flores, the Ironhorse Brigade's senior retention non-commissioned officer and a native of Laredo, Texas. "It's an honor to have him on our team."

Ray will be representing MND-B against other career counselors in the next level of career counselor of the year competitions, attending the Multi-National Corps-Iraq Career Counselor of the Year board at Camp Liberty Oct. 6.

• Date Taken: 10.05.2007
• Date Posted: 10.05.2007 08:44
• Story ID: 12717
• Location: TAJI, IQ