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    1ACB CSM coach, role model for Soldiers

    1ACB CSM coach, role model for Soldiers

    Photo By Sgt. Maj. Nathan Hoskins | Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Spiva, the top enlisted Soldier for the 1st Air Cavalry...... read more read more

    By Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
    1st Air Cavalry Brigade Public Affairs

    TAJI, Iraq – Following in the footsteps of a past brigade command sergeant major is difficult enough.

    But the top noncommissioned officer of the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade took that position Nov. 15 – the day the brigade assumed authority of the Multinational Division-Baghdad aviation mission in Iraq from the 4th Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade.

    Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Spiva, a native of Sutter Creek, Calif., replaced Command Sgt. Maj. Donald R. Sanders.

    "[Sanders] built a good team," Spiva said. "He put a lot of Soldiers in the right places and built a fine team. I plan to continue fine tuning that as the mission here requires."

    Spiva is no stranger to the 1st ACB; he was the top NCO of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade's 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment – previously the 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Armored Division, based in Hanau, Germany.

    Those who know him and those who have worked for him say the enlisted Soldiers from the brigade have, in Spiva, a role model who lives and breathes the Army values.

    "He is the epitome of what a Soldier is," said 1st Sgt. J. D. Sellers, a native of Ballston Spa, N.Y., and the acting command sergeant major for 4-227th. "He lives the Army Values and instills pride in the Soldiers working for him, the Soldiers he mentors and even Soldiers that he comes in contact with. He is definitely a lead-from-the-front NCO."

    "His standards are the Army standards; he has always been a firm believer in the Army standards," said 1st Sgt. Mark Wouters, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4-227th.

    Sellers said Spiva expects no more – or no less – than what he himself gives to the Army and the 1st ACB.

    "He expects the Soldiers of the 1st ACB to live the Army Values, abide by the Soldiers' Creed and Warrior Ethos, take pride in the Warrior Brigade and always do what is right," Sellers said.

    Although he has stepped up to brigade level, his expectations of Soldiers are the same.

    "He is a fair and honest guy – as a command sergeant major should be," Wouters said. Wouters, who hails from Martinstown, Mo., knew Spiva when he was a first sergeant in Germany. "I knew that he would bring outstanding leadership and guidance as our [battalion] command sergeant major, and he
    was everything that I expected. He treated everybody equally.

    "The [4-227th] Soldiers all liked him, because he was a fair individual. If we didn't meet his standards he would let us know. He corrects you if you do something wrong, but when Soldiers do something good, he is the first one there to praise them."

    With a month as the brigade's top NCO behind him, Spiva said he likes what he sees in Soldiers from the Warrior Brigade.

    "We have great Soldiers with great training and motivation," Spiva said. "They are [working hard] to get the mission done. The great leaders and Soldiers of the Warrior Brigade are all pulling their share of the load to make our mission here successful."

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.15.2006
    Date Posted: 12.31.2006 16:12
    Story ID: 8707
    Location: TAJI, IQ

    Web Views: 278
    Downloads: 149

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