Beyond the standard: CASCOM CSM has cultivated a career of raising the bar

PETERSBURG, VA, UNITED STATES

09.11.2014

Story by Terrance Bell  

Fort Gregg-Adams

FORT LEE, Va. - Merely checking the box to fulfill mission requirements tears at the very fabric of excellence, failing the Army as an institution and those entrusted with supporting it.

That statement could easily find a home in a motivational speech or professional development session.

Or, it could be the driving factor behind the persona and career of Command Sgt. Maj. Terry E. Parham Sr.

Parham, who took over the CASCOM CSM helm in February, is part of the leadership team – headed by Maj. Gen. Stephen Lyons, CASCOM and Fort Lee commanding general – that is responsible for training roughly 185,000 military personnel annually and developing sustainment doctrine to support Army operations. The Dinwiddie native said he can’t think of any greater capacity to serve.

“I’m just honored to be here,” he said.

Parham is particularly fond of CASCOM’s institutional component. A former food service instructor at the Army Center of Excellence, Subsistence, forerunner of the Joint Culinary Center of Excellence, he has a deep understanding of what it means to build “the bench,” his vernacular for developing all members of the team. That responsibility can never be taken for granted, he noted.

“Everyone should take exceptional pride in what they do,” he said. “That means training our future leaders as best we can. It means when you stand in front of Soldiers or other military personnel as an instructor, you should want to be the best example for them in every capacity. It doesn’t matter if you’re a DOD Civilian, contractor, Soldier-leader or service member leader – you should want to be the best representation of what excellence is in order to build our bench of forces.”

Parham is no stranger to excellence and the sweat equity that goes with it. He began a career in food service three years before graduating from Petersburg High School, working as a short order cook. Parham’s childhood friend, retired Sgt. 1st Class Clinton Gordon III, remembered the days when the two canvassed neighborhoods in search of needy lawns. He said it was evident then Parham possessed the ambition to further himself beyond any familiar boundary.

“He is one of the most driven people I’ve met in my entire life,” said Gordon, who has known Parham 35 years. “When Terry says he’s going to do something, he does it.”

Retired Sgt. Maj. Jimmy Cunningham, the former Directorate of Training SGM at ACES, said Parham was an overachiever, never satisfied with attaining any rank or position.

“Just making E-8 wasn’t good enough; he had to be a first sergeant,” he said. “Just making E-9 wasn’t good enough, neither; he had to be a command sergeant major. I am not surprised that he has risen to the level of CASCOM CSM and won’t be surprised when he makes Sergeant Major of the Army.”

Parham also is objectively competitive, eager to demonstrate food service personnel are as passionate and dedicated as anyone else. Angela Parham, his wife, tells the story of one Soldier’s reaction to her husband being named the first sergeant of a transportation unit.

“He told me ‘I don’t know how your husband got that job; he’s a cook, not a transporter,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘Guess, what? I guess the best man got the job.’”

Parham showed earlier he was willing to work at being the best. He was entrusted with dining facility shift leader duties as an E-4 and quickly moved up the ranks, earning career-enhancing assignments such as his selection to instruct for two years at the British Army School of Catering in Aldershot, England. Additionally, he went on to capture a spot on the 1992 U.S. Army Culinary Arts Team, winning two gold medals at the Culinary Olympics. Preferring the trenches of the serving line to the world of fine dining, Parham said he turned down the ACAT captainship soon after. “I wanted to go back to the DFAC,” he said.

All told, it was the type of move that characterized him as a Soldier. Parham had earned the third rocker of a master sergeant before he had logged 13 years of service, a lightning quick ascent by any measure, attributed to a furrowed browed, head-down, grinding work ethic, devoid of everything but the will to exceed.

“When I think about how I started, I think of how the Army gave me an opportunity to serve and how I attacked every mission head on,” he said. “Whatever mission the Army gives, you just go at it; you give it your best.”

Whatever the merits of his career progression, there were many hard lessons along the path of transformation many are forced to tread as Soldiers. Parham’s temperament forced him there. “I was a firecracker,” he said, describing his younger self as something of a hothead.

Parham’s quickness to confront was such that Angela thought he would never make it out of basic training 31 years ago. He did, of course, but his challenges didn’t stop there. While stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and working at a DFAC as a shift leader in 1986, Parham had an encounter with a subordinate and subsequent brush with the consequences of his sometimes temperamental behavior.

“I was a shift leader having to feed 80 Soldiers,” he said. “After we fed the Soldiers, you would get your meal, wrap it up and put it in the warmer because we all would normally eat together.” One Soldier, a Pvt. Jones, defied the normal routine for a quick meal prior to the breakdown. Parham was marginally annoyed. “I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’” he said. “He’s like, ‘I’m going to sit down to eat.’ I said, ‘No you’re not. We’re going to break down the serving line.’”

The Soldier continued on with gathering items for his meal, driving up Parham’s temperature gauge. “I met him at the drink machine. When he went to get his juice, I put my hand on his and said, ‘Hey, you go put your food up right now or I’m going to do this and that to you!”

Parham’s reaction was undoubtedly ‘old school,” but it was a mistake. The Soldier reported him, and the commander considered disciplinary action in the form of an Article 15. All of a sudden, the endless toil he had endured on the DFAC floors seemed inconsequential.

“All I could think about was that I getting an Article 15,” he said. “I went to my commander, apologized and apologized to the Soldier. They did rip it up. That snapped me back to reality. Once again, you can be doing a super job, but …”

A Soldier is only as good as his or her performance today. Parham said he has become well-acquainted with that realization.

“One thing I’ve always seen,” he said philosophically, “is that soldiering and life is not about what you’ve done. It’s about what you’re doing and going to do ... You might have been a good Joe or Josephine back in the day, but the system really cares about what you’re doing now – what you’re bringing to the fight and what you continue to bring to the fight.”

Preparation for the fight has also taught him the Army is a collective, moved by common purpose and energized by the competency and passion of its Soldiers and civilians.

“I learned a long time ago that you can take all the individuals you want, but until the team gets onboard, you can’t be your best,” he said.

Parham has gone on to build teams in various positions that are outside the realm of food service. He spent seven years of the century’s first decade at Fort Drum, N.Y., performing duties as the 548th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion’s CSM during a deployment to Iraq; U.S. Army Garrison CSM; 10th Mountain Division (rear) CSM on two occasions; and commandant of the Warrior Leaders Course.

Parham also was the top enlisted leader for the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) at Fort Hood, where he was assigned prior to his arrival here.

Maj. Gen. Larry D. Wyche, the former CASCOM and Fort Lee commanding general, lauded Parham’s career achievements with a statement of assurance during his change of responsibility ceremony. “I’ve personally tracked CSM Parham’s career, and I have to tell you, CSM Parham, you are not here by accident.”

Parham said the roads that led to his current position were built by various people along the way, particularly his wife, who has stood beside him the past 30 years, and his three adult children. From a professional standpoint, those roads are paved brick-by-brick with words relating to “standards,” the impetus behind his career ambition.

“I always trying to be about the right standard,” he said. “No person I know is perfect, but I think we should always work toward trying to be that way. That’s not saying you’re not going to make mistakes or trip and fall; what I’m saying is try to be about the right standard. Always try to be better every day.”

That’s always better than merely checking the box.

• Date Taken: 09.11.2014
• Date Posted: 09.11.2014 09:19
• Story ID: 141775
• Location: PETERSBURG, VA, US