For U.S. Army Spc. Jazzamyn Bishop, leadership has been part of her life long before she ever put on an Army uniform.
Bishop, a military police officer assigned to the 603rd Military Police Company, stepped into an unexpected leadership role during the five-day Dark Knight competition, serving as the sole specialist to lead a three-Soldier team in a noncommissioned officer role during the Best Squad competition at Ādaži Military Base, Latvia, Sept. 7-11.
While each team was structured with two junior enlisted Soldiers led by an NCO, Bishop found herself in a unique position. Although she has only been a specialist since March and has less than three years of military service, her own NCO recognized her desire to grow and ultimately selected her to fill the role.
Bishop said she was nervous at first. She had never formally served as an NCO and knew she was being trusted with responsibilities beyond what her rank typically required. But that trust became one of the most meaningful parts of the experience.
“I was nervous, because I don’t know anything about being an NCO,” said Bishop. “But given that I was trusted within my unit and my leadership to do this, and that mission was accomplished, it felt really good.”
Throughout the competition, Bishop learned leadership is not simply about being the person in charge. It is about building trust, communicating with her Soldiers and learning when to push herself for the sake of the team.
“There were times when I felt like I wanted to give up, but I also had to think about them instead of myself,” Bishop said. “I can't give up and not lead them in my best way.”
That balance was visible to the Soldiers beside her.
“She was not just our team leader, but also our battle buddy,” said Pfc. Stephanie Ortegon, a military police officer assigned to the 603rd Military Police Company and a member of Bishop’s team.
For Ortegon, Bishop's willingness to step into an unfamiliar role helped carry the team through the competition. “I think she helped us a lot to carry it through,” Ortegon said. “Her motivation and morale within the group really helped us.”
The lesson is not unfamiliar to Bishop. Her understanding of leadership has been developing since childhood, long before she knew she would one day lead Soldiers herself. Bishop's father, Command Sgt. Maj. John H. Bishop Jr., served 28 years in the military before retiring from the U.S. Army Seattle Recruiting Battalion. At 28 years old, Bishop has spent her entire life watching her father serve.
Growing up as a military child, Bishop experienced the unique challenges that came with her father's career, including frequent moves and deployments. Born in Germany, she moved approximately every three years as her father's career took the family to different locations. She learned early how to adapt, build relationships and move forward when circumstances changed.
Those experiences ultimately helped shape her decision to serve.
“I’ve always thought of myself as joining the military,” said Bishop. “But my dad is the main reason I joined. He inspired me.”
Now, years after watching her father serve, Bishop finds herself building a military career of her own, and he was still there to encourage her. Throughout the Dark Knight competition, Bishop's father called her every day to motivate her and remind her that she was capable of succeeding.
“He tells me, ‘You're a Bishop, you're gonna win, you're gonna do great, you're making me so proud,’” Bishop said.
For Bishop, those words carried weight. Hearing encouragement from the man who first inspired her to join the military helped her push through the moments when the competition became difficult. Her father is not only the person who inspired her to serve, but also the leader she strives to emulate one day.
Bishop said watching her father’s military accomplishments, and the way he continues to serve his family after retirement, has shaped her understanding of leadership. Even after completing a 28-year military career, her father continues to serve his family, caring for Bishop's mother, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), while also caring for her special-needs brother.
“Seeing him balance so much stuff and still being able to be a dad and a husband and everything has been really inspiring,” Bishop said.
Her father’s example followed Bishop onto the competition field.
Though she has been in the Army for less than three years, she found herself entrusted with a responsibility that required her to lead Soldiers during one of the company's most demanding competitions. Rather than allowing her rank to define her capabilities, Bishop used the opportunity to prove herself, learn from the experience and grow into the leader her team needed.
The experience has already changed how she sees her future. Bishop said the deployment and the Dark Knight competition have given her a greater appreciation for full-time military service, and she is now considering a transition to active duty.
For now, she carries forward the lessons she learned from her competition team and from the Soldier who inspired her to put on the uniform in the first place. Her father's 28 years of service shaped the environment she grew up in. Now, 28 years into her own life, Bishop is beginning to write the next chapter of that legacy.
She may not have worn the NCO rank during the competition, but Bishop proved that leadership is not always defined by the rank on a Soldier's chest.
Sometimes, it’s a quality recognized by the people willing to trust you to lead.
And sometimes, it is passed from one generation to the next.