Division Support Brigade PAO
CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers at Camp Taji are being given the opportunity to advance to sergeant or staff sergeant, even while deployed.
The standard is the same here as it is back at home station: prospective noncommissioned officers must still appear before a promotion board.
Prior to the board, however, a Soldier must get ready.
Preparing good Soldiers for advancement is extremely important to Staff Sgt. Everick L. Moore, who is serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq.
"If I send good Soldiers to the board, the Army will have good leaders," said Moore, a heavy-wheel vehicle operator with the 104th Transportation Company, 87th Corps Support Battalion, Division Support Brigade.
To prepare potential good leaders for the board, Moore, a Washington, D.C., native, developed a study club that meets during Soldiers" down time.
"It started out with just our own squad," said Spc. Ross P. Woodbury, a heavy-wheel vehicle operator with Moore's squad in 2nd Platoon. "Then other squads joined. Then other platoons."
Regardless of unit, Moore is glad to help.
"When I was coming up [through the ranks], NCOs helped me," said Moore, a six-year veteran.
The first thing his 'students" noticed was his ability to help them prepare.
"He's good at studying," said Woodbury, a Mansfield, Mass., native.
But Moore doesn't just use a standard Army study guide.
"He had us study whole subjects, not just a list of questions," said Sgt. Joseph N. Cusumano, another heavy-wheel vehicle operator with Moore's squad.
Cusumano, who hails from Concord, N.H., said it's more than just memorizing regulations.
"You do a lot of presenting yourself," said Cusumano, who has six years in the Army. "[Moore] helps you with what to do and what to expect."
Consequently, practicing how to report to the board makes you comfortable and gives you confidence, said Woodbury.
Woodbury is preparing for the next sergeant's board, while Cusumano has already been to the staff sergeant board and scored the highest points of Moore's club members to date"148 out of 150 points. Moore said all the Soldiers from his club score more than 145. He hopes the next one will score the elusive 150.