Ready First Soldier to lead Army Armor School

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kris Bonet | Command Sgt. Maj. Tony T. Towns, senior enlisted advisor with 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, addresses Soldiers after a brigade run at Fort Bliss, Texas, Dec. 18, 2019. Towns’ experience with the Ready First Brigade’s conversion from Stryker to Armored and the different armored units he served with, contributed to his selection as the next U.S. Army Armor School senior enlisted advisor.  

FOR BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

05.11.2020

Story by Staff Sgt. Kris Bonet and Maj. Danielle Covington

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

FORT BLISS, Texas— Command Sgt. Maj. Tony T. Towns, the senior enlisted advisor with 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, is preparing to become the senior enlisted advisor for the U.S. Army Armor School at Fort Benning, Georgia, this summer.

Towns joined the U.S. Army in 1995 to become an M1A1/A2 Abrams armor crewman. Additionally, he has served as a tank driver, loader, gunner, and commander. He has also served as a platoon sergeant, operations noncommissioned officer, cavalry troop and headquarters and headquarters Troop first sergeant, operations sergeant major, and squadron command sergeant major.

Towns became a member of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club and Excellence in Armor and won Drill Sergeant of the Year in 2006.

He is ready to go back to school.

"I am very excited about being selected," said Towns. "It's an opportunity to influence the entire armored community, which I am very passionate about. From the initial entry training Soldiers that come into the Army, to the maneuver captains that go to the Captains Career Course and all the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development System, we have an opportunity to make sure that the Soldiers that come into the armored community are prepared for unified land operations across our Army, and arrive at their brigade combat team ready to contribute to the organization."

Towns signed in as Ready 7 on November 2, 2018. He was part of the Ready First Brigade's historic conversion from stryker to armored June 20, 2019. Since then, more than 80 tank crews and 200 tankers completed new equipment training on the brigade's assigned tanks.

"My time with the Ready First and the 1AD has been very rewarding," said Towns. "I arrived here right when we started the conversion from stryker to armored. During that process, I got a better understanding of force and personnel management, how we receive equipment and personnel. The Army doesn't just have sergeants and staff sergeants waiting to come to a brigade combat team, so we started growing from the Initial Entry Training and On-Site Unit Training community. At one point, we had a lot of junior enlisted, but not many leaders. That was very profound."

Towns is scheduled to relinquish responsibilities as brigade command sergeant major this July.

"Command Sgt. Maj. Towns was instrumental in leading the Ready First Combat Team through organizational change as they converted from a Stryker Brigade Combat Team to an Armor Brigade Combat Team," said Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Cobb, 1st Armored Division senior enlisted advisor. "He has been passionate about developing subordinates into future leaders and ensuring that each interaction with Soldiers, peers, and superiors is a positive growth experience. I look forward to seeing all of the great things he will do for the Armor community in his next position as the Armor Center of Excellence Command Sgt. Major. 1st Armored Division's loss is the Armor community's gain."

"As a people-person, it's hard for me to leave after having built so many important relationships," said Towns. I will always have the Ready First in my thoughts and prayers."

• Date Taken: 05.11.2020
• Date Posted: 05.11.2020 10:13
• Story ID: 369693
• Location: FOR BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: EL PASO, TX, US
• Hometown: FORT BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: VIENNA, GA, US