256th Brigade selects top Soldier, NCO

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Benoit | CAMP TIGERLAND, Iraq Staff Sgt. Daniel Slone from New Iberia, La., with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, attached to C Company, 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team receives the Army Commendation Medal Aug. 1 from 256th BCT commander, John Basilica Jr. Slone was chosen as the Non-commissioned Officer of the Quarter for the 256th BCT.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

08.10.2005

Courtesy Story

256th Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana Army National Guard

256th Brigade Combat Team PAO

CAMP TIGERLAND, Iraq -- Two Soldiers from the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division stood before a panel of senior non-commissioned officers to prove why they should be chosen as the Soldier and NCO of the Quarter.

Cpl. Jeffrey Abadie from Mandeville, La., of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, 256th BCT, competed against fellow Soldiers of the 256th for the coveted title of Soldier of the Quarter. His leaders helped him prepare and in the end, it paid off.

"I'd never gone before a board before, so my NCOs set up a mock scenario to help me get ready for it," Abadie said.

Though his questioning at the brigade level lasted only a few minutes, Abadie's leaders had previously drilled him for a 20-minute question-and-answer session, so he would have as few surprises as possible. He also prepared by reading a study guide provided by his leaders, though he said the mock board helped him more than anything.

"My NCOs purposely asked me the harder questions to better prepare me," he said.

There was no way of knowing what level of difficulty the questions would be for the actual board, but Abadie's tutoring from his leaders helped him stay calm under pressure. He said this was also something the panel looked at when deciding a winner.

"I was pretty confident in most of my answers, and when I wasn't, my composure was never shaken," he said. "One thing that helped me a lot was that if I didn't know the answer, I always knew where to find it, so I stated the appropriate field manual to reference."

Ultimately, Abadie said this quality is what makes a good Soldier. You may not always know the answer, but knowing where to find it is a step in solving a problem.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Slone from New Iberia, La., with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 156th Inf. Reg., attached to C Company, 1st Bn., 156th Armor Reg., 256th BCT, earned the role of NCO of the Quarter.

As a chief operating officer for single-shareholder companies in the civilian half of his life, he has quite a bit of experience dealing with numerous employees in a leadership role. As a Bradley Fighting Vehicle commander and patrol leader, he deals with fewer subordinates, but said due to the conditions around them and the nature of the job, it is much more challenging.

"Being shot at and seeing what we've seen as a section changed my outlook and actually put things into perspective," he claimed. "When I go back to my civilian job and have to work with a difficult person, I'm going to think, "You're not that big of a problem, are you?""

Slone and the other NCOs were questioned by the board on the same topics as the junior enlisted Soldiers, in addition to leadership procedures.

"When we walked in we had to do a series of facing movements so the panel could see how we moved and inspect our uniforms," he said.

Each senior NCO on the panel asked two questions about a topic, which included maintenance, current events and first aid. Slone said one of the most difficult topics dealt with weapons systems, since there are so many different lengths, weights, and ranges.

Even under the pressure of difficult questions, he said he never faltered in his confidence, and attributed his calm head to his civilian career.

"I felt like I had an advantage because I speak before a lot of large groups and often run meetings and conferences," he said.

As well as Slone felt he performed, he never knew how he fared in the overall spectrum of the competition, because each NCO separately faced the judges. In that respect, he said winning was a total surprise and very gratifying.

Both Abadie and Slone showed unwavering self-assurance in their answers and learned quite a bit, in addition to winning a competition.

"I realized that I could maintain my composure under pressure, and I think that's something that I can take home with me, and know that I can have confidence in difficult situations," Abadie reflected.

Slone said it helped that most questions seemed to be directed towards their lives in Iraq, and that each topic may have already pertained to any number of experiences since arriving in Baghdad.

"Well, they certainly didn't ask me any questions about cold weather injuries," he smirked.

• Date Taken: 08.10.2005
• Date Posted: 08.10.2005 16:05
• Story ID: 2655
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ