Army Reserve Soldier exchanges stripes for gold bar

Photo By Maj. Marvin Baker | "Being an officer means that I have to be twice as good and work twice as hard. I must give all that I have, be the best that I can be, never think I know everything and always be ready to listen,” she said.  

MARYSVILLE, WA, UNITED STATES

04.24.2015

Story by Capt. Marvin Baker 

364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - “I am humbled, honored and blessed to get this commission,” she said during her official pinning ceremony Feb. 7 at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Marysville, Wash.

For a decade and a half, Tammy Zurn has found a fountain of opportunity in the Army Reserve. She quickly rose through the enlisted ranks as an Army paralegal. During the global war on terrorism, she spent five years on active duty including one year deployed to Kuwait with the 364th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).

Now, Sgt. 1st Class Zurn has exchanged her hard-earned three stripes and two rockers for a gold bar. Earlier this year, she was presented with a direct commission in the Army Reserve as an adjutant general officer.

“I am humbled, honored and blessed to get this commission,” she said during her official pinning ceremony Feb. 7 at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Marysville, Wash.

Zurn noted that career growth and intellectual challenge were the main reasons she wanted to make the switch. She knows that the new skills she will learn as an AG officer will enhance her civilian career.

“Human Resource Management is a very sought after career field in the civilian world,” she said.

Zurn, like many people who join the Army Reserve, joined to enhance her civilian career.

“Nearly everything I have learned as a Soldier and Army paralegal enhanced my civilian career skills,” she said.

Zurn credits several people who helped her career, particularly her civilian employer who appreciated her military commitment and kept in touch with her during her deployment.

Zurn had lots of help along the way from fellow Soldiers in the 364th ESC as well. Most Soldiers are familiar with the expression, “No one is more interested in your own career progression than you.” That’s why Zurn worked so hard to reach her goals. “Throughout my career, I strived to continually develop my skills and broaden my abilities by taking on increasingly responsible positions and completing NCO courses while simultaneously obtaining civilian degrees,” she said. "My experiences have taught me how to overcome obstacles to achieve success and how to make goals a reality. I feel that my proven record of capacity for learning coupled with the maturity to challenge and lead others helped my selection and prepared me for officership.”

The most challenging part of the administrative process to become an officer was the yearlong wait. The U.S. Army Reserve Direct Appointment and Reappointment Selection Board meets each year in June. The packet is like any other promotion packet, which requires an official Army photo and other updates to personnel records. She started her packet in early 2013, but the process was delayed during each of the funding crises that affected the Army that year.

“It was frustrating,” said Maj. Joseph A. Lubin, one of Zurn’s supervisors in the 364th ESC IG office. “We were doing all the right things, responding to each of the steps and additional steps in the process. However, the question is, ‘how bad do you want it?’ She wanted it bad enough to stick it out and give up what she earned as a respected senior NCO in order to start new again as a junior commissioned officer,” he added.

For Zurn, becoming an officer means many things. “My experience as an NCO, which encompasses leading, training and mentoring has taught me how to be a conduit for positive change. Being an officer means that I have to be twice as good and work twice as hard. I must give all that I have, be the best that I can be, never think I know everything and always be ready to listen,” she said.

“This is a double-edged sword. I am so proud to see a Soldier progress and take on new challenges,” said Lubin. “However, I hate to see the NCO Corps and my section lose an excellent senior NCO.”

For more information about the Army Reserve or to learn how to become an officer visit GoArmy.com.

• Date Taken: 04.24.2015
• Date Posted: 04.24.2015 16:48
• Story ID: 161209
• Location: MARYSVILLE, WA, US