Photo By Lt. Col. Andy Thaggard | Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Malloch, left, of Ocean Springs, Miss., is presented...... read more read more
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JACKSON, Miss. - Warrant officers are the technical experts of the U.S. Army. They train Soldiers as well as coordinate and counsel during missions, yet only make up about three percent of the Army’s strength.
Whenever one hears about the Army and the awards given, they usually think of non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers. Rarely do we see warrant officers acknowledged, although they play a key role in a unit’s success and mission readiness, said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Bobby Tanksley, state command chief warrant officer of the Mississippi National Guard.
The Warrant Officer of the Year award was established because there was no award to specifically recognize the efforts of warrant officers.
“There are awards for best warrior competition for the enlisted and then you’ve got the awards for the officers. There was nothing for the warrant officers. A few years back, the command chief at that time decided that we needed to recognize our best warrant officer in the state as well as the officers and the non-commissioned officers,” said Tanksley.
He and his team make the final decision for the Chief Warrant Officer of the Year Award.
“I have a board that comes together and evaluates all the packets,” the Wesson, Mississippi, native, said. “We are looking for the total Soldier concept. We want to know what they did for the unit and how they advanced the Mississippi National Guard. We want to know about the community involvement. This board decides on our warrant officer of the year.”
The winner receives the award at the National Guard Association of Mississippi state conference. Their packet is then submitted to the National Guard Association of the United States for national competition, said Tanksley.
There’s a difference between this award and other military awards.
“The Chief Warrant Officer of the Year award is an award the warrant officers don’t even know they are competing for,” Tanksley said. “Once a year, the major subordinate commands nominate one of their warrant officers for this award. It’s based on what they did the previous year and how they worked with the unit to improve it. It also takes into consideration the warrant officer’s community involvement. Malloch, who won this year, is heavily involved with Boy Scouts of America.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Malloch, of Ocean Springs, Miss., is the team chief of the 231st Engineering Detachment in Gulfport, Mississippi. He has been a member of the National Guard for eight years and has six years of prior service in the Navy.
“It’s a huge honor,” Malloch said. “The Warrant Officers are a highly skilled group. To be selected means someone recognized value in what I do,” said Malloch. “To be selected amongst peers, it’s a very humbling experience.”
Although he did not know he was nominated for the award, Malloch is aware of the things that lead his chain of command to select him.
“There were two factors that went into the selection,” he said. “One was the effort put into pursuing chief warrant officer status. The other factor was outside activities.”
Malloch is a Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America as well as a volunteer trainer for various skills.
“Skills that Boy Scouts are taught are similar to the skills that the Army teaches. We teach land navigation and survival techniques.”
This award is not to be taken lightly, Tanksley said. If a Warrant Officer is selected, it means that that they are highly regarded in their state and they have the chance to win the national award as well.
“The award says to everybody else that if I work hard and I do community projects and I show them that I am that caliber of soldier, I have the ability to be recognized of the state level as the best warrant officer in the state this year as well as on the national level,” said Tanksley.
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2015 12:46 |
| Story ID: | 163645 |
| Location: | JACKSON, MS, US |
| Hometown: | OCEAN SPRINGS, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 160 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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