7/28/2019 Becoming Selfless

1/1 NCO JOURNAL 3

BY EXAMPLE

Master Sgt. William Haddon is an aviation op-

erations specialist with the 12th Aviation Battalion,

U.S. Army Air Operations Group, Military District of

Washington. He currently serves as the president of

the local Sgt. Audie Murphy Club, helping coordinate

events that honor World War II and Korean veterans,

help the local USOs and support the Paralympics. He

has deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Why did you join the Army?

Initially I joined the Army to get my GI Bill to go

to culinary school and become a che. So I joined the

Army as a cook. I also wanted to travel around, get

out o Lancaster County, Pa., learn job skills and earn

money or school.

Why have you continued to serve as an NCO?

I enjoy what I am doing. I no longer wanted to be a

cook ater my rst enlistment, and air trac control

seemed pretty intriguing. Once I became an air trac

controller, I went to Korea and Fort Rucker, Ala., and

really enjoyed it, so I chose to stay in.

What role have NCOs played in your proessional

development?

I had some good NCOs who really pushed me. They

told me what was out there through counseling and

mentorship. They let me know what my options were

to better mysel and better serve the Army.

How do you set the example or your Soldiers?

I set the example through hard work, pushing them

to be the best like good leaders had done with me. I

tell them there arent always good examples o leader-

ship, so take what you can get rom the good leaders.

The bad things rom bad leadership remember those

things and never do that to your Soldiers.

What should junior NCOs know about career pro-

gression in the Army?You have to be open-minded and you cant be pes-

simistic about assignments. You arent always going

to get the exact job that you want, but you can learn

something out o every assignment you get.

What would youd like to see more NCOs be doing?

Id like to see leaders be more selfess. A lot o

times, leaders are ocused on themselves and just

what they can do to progress themselves. What they

dont realize is when your Soldiers are successul,

youre successul as a leader. Its not all about what

schools you can attend or what your NCO Evaluation

Report looks like. Its about how well you train your

Soldiers and how well you perorm that really speaks

multitudes about your leadership accomplishments.

What advice do you have or other NCOs?

Always lead rom the ront; its hard to push wet

spaghetti up a hill. You have to get up ront, and some-

times people arent going to do what you want them to

do unless you show them how it needs to be done.

What is your leadership style?

My own leadership style is participative; I like to get

my hands dirty as much as I can. I like to be involved

not just stand back and supervise, but actually be

involved in the tasks i Im able to. I think that means a

lot to Soldiers.

What would you recommend to Army leaders?

I would recommend reading The Servantby JamesC. Hunter. I try to live as a servant leader to my sub-

ordinates and take care o their needs, since they are

the ones accomplishing the mission where the rubber

meets the road. It is a good book to help you become

selfess and better support your troops.

INTERVIEW BY JENNIFER MATTSON

Becoming selfessMaster Sgt. William Haddon strives to be a servant leaderas he guides air trac and his Soldiers development

Master Sgt. William Haddon (left) leads his troops in

formation during a recent deployment to Afghanistan.PHOTO COURTESY OF MASTER SGT. WILLIAM HADDON