By Sfc. Tanasha Stachelczyk
Third Army/ARCENT Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. – A Third Army/ARCENT Soldier was one of 44 inducted into the Army’s Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame., May 9, at Marshall Auditorium in McGinnis-Wickam Hall on Fort Benning, Ga.
The two ways to be nominated into the Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1958, is by oneself or through team recommendation. The recognition is only for officers who have distinguished themselves in military and civilian service at the state and national level.
Army Col. Robert P. Wade, Third Army/ARCENT’s chief of air and missile defense, was inducted due to the recommendation of his team in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. He is currently serving a one-year assignment as the chief of air missile defense not only in Kuwait but at Third Army, Shaw Air Force Base.
“In this past year, Col. Wade has influenced and inspired me in ways that I am sure will follow me the rest of my life both in and out of the military uniform,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Heather Ritter, a C4I systems integrator and Joint Interface Control Officer with Third Army/ARCENT. “He has demonstrated to me that compassion and understanding as a leader in the military is not a sign of weakness and that you will get the best results from people if you act and think as a person rather than as a machine, as most of us in the military have become accustomed to.”
The recommendation and selection for the OCS Hall of Fame Class of 2013 came as a welcoming surprise, said Wade, who entered the military at age 23 in 1986 as a college-opt and after 27 years serving in the Army he still is having fun.
He said when he joined he was prepared and knew this is what he wanted to do as a career. “I will continue to serve as long as the Army lets me,” said Wade.