WARNO- 2022 Reunion

1.        Situation – Alumni Forces require reorganization and assembly in 2022.

2.        Mission: 37th Armor Alumni (-) conduct Patton’s Vanguard Assembly vicinity Columbus, GA 15-18 September 2022 in order to reconnect, reorganize, and reunite with the Home of Armor.

3.        General Instructions

a. Special Teams / Task Organization: Alumni Members from the four 37th Armor Battalions and Family Members are invited. Advanced recon team conducted leaders’ recon 11-13 March 2022 of Columbus.

b. Common Uniform / Equipment: Reunion T Shirt will be provided to all participants for group photo. Casual dress / civilian clothes us uniform for all other periods.

c. Tentative Time Schedule: See plan timeline below

d. Specific Instructions: OPORD to be published 1 April 2022 when event registration opens. All channels will be utilized (Website, Facebook, and Linkedin) to reach the four Battalions Alumni. Registration will be nonreundable as it had been for 24 years (prior to Covid).

Vredenburgh

Alumni Employer Spotlight: Thomas & Herbert Consulting, LLC.

At Thomas & Herbert Consulting LLC (T&H), we are passionate about the success of our clients. Founded in 1996 by a former Tank Gunner, Rodney Thomas who served in 1/37 Armor, T&H is a Veteran-Owned Small Business with an impeccable track record for delivering information technology and management consulting solutions that improve our clients’ business. We support Government’s top priorities in Healthcare, Housing, Intelligence and Security and Defense. T&H hires Veterans for a range of professional solutions so please visit our web site to review our current job openings. https://www.thcllc.com To inquire about specific positions, please contact Margaret Ogugua: [email protected] or call 301-357-7036

Honorary Colonel of the Regiment, James (Jim) Noles

James (Jim) Noles was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Armor upon graduation from Florence State University (University of North Alabama) in August, 1967. He served in a number of positions as an Armor officer and as a Foreign Area Officer culminating as Assistant Commandant of the Armor School, Ft. Knox, KY.

Jim retired in August, 1992, after 25 years of service. Jim Noles’ civil and military education includes the Armor Officer Basis Course, the Ranger Course, the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Airborne School, Arabic Language School, USMC Command and Staff College, and Army War College. He holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Alabama.

Among Jim Noles’ assignments are the following:

  • Infantry Platoon Leader, A Co. 2-39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Div (Viet Nam)
  • Boat Section Leader, 1097th Boat Company, Mobile Riverine, 9th Infantry Division (Viet Nam)
  • Armored Cavalry Troop Commander, B Troop, 1st Sqdn., 2nd Armored Cavalry Regimen (ACR) (Germany)
  • S-3, 1st Sqdn, 2nd ACR (Germany)
  • Arabic Foreign Area Officer, US Embassy, North Yemen
  • Armored Battalion Commander, 1-37 Armor, 1st Armored Division, (Germany)
  • Corps G-1, III Corps, (Ft Hood, TX)
  • Armored Brigade Commander, 3rd Bde, 3rd Armored Division (Germany)
  • Corps G-3, V Corps, (Germany)
  • Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Army Armor School, Ft. Knox, KY.

Jim Noles’ awards and decorations include:

  • Distinguished Service Medal
  • Silver Star (1st OLC)
  • Defense Superior Service Medal
  • Legion of Merit
  • Soldier’s Medal
  • Bronze Star Medal
  • Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device
  • Defense Meritorious Service Medal
  • Meritorious Service Medal (3rd OLC)
  • Army Commendation Medal with Valor device
  • Army Commendation Medal (1st OLC)
  • Viet Nam Service Medal
  • United Nations Service Medal
  • Southwest Asia Service Medal
  • Combat Infantryman’s badge
  • Ranger Tab
  • Parachutist badge
  • Republic of Viet Nam Gallantry Cross with silver star.

Following retirement from the Army, Jim worked in the energy field with emphasis on the Middle East. Jim lives in Florence, Alabama, with his bride of 50 years, Jackie. He lives just across the street from his three granddaughters.

Batson Blog #2 April/May 2020

FUNCTIONAL SKILLS FACTOR LARGE

Following my stint with 1 Bn 37th Armor with its then jeeps, gamma goats and M60 tanks, I served 20 more years in the U.S. Army Reserve with two mobilizations. Reserve drill weekends, chocked full of Common Task and other mandatory training, scarcely held time for MOS sustainment.  Knowledge of fellow soldiers’ MOS proficiency was spotty because, in the Reserve Component, one’s Functional Skills often contributed more to mission success than MOS or even the rank on one’s collar.  At no other time was this fact more evident than no-notice mobilizations to active duty. Being thrust together for 8-16 months instead of the usual 8-16 hours begged the question: What else can you do?

SGT A., not a mechanic by MOS, was so skilled at generator repair and maintenance that, in the motor pool, he became known as “Healing Hands.” SPC B. spoke excellent French. Who knew? 1LT C. had been an accomplished gymnast in college; she wowed our Active Component parent unit with spirited PT warm-ups. I could draw maps and graphics as well as many a school-trained draftsman.

Functional Skills factor large because they are transferable skills. Which

functional skills do you possess that may or may not be related to your Army MOS? To be competitive in the job market in the 2020s, do you need to acquire new skills? To best position yourself for the civilian job market, pay keen attention to identifying and refining your present functional skills as well as acquiring new and more marketable skills. On your resume and in job interviews, you must first identify and then communicate the transferability of your skills to prospective employers.

The aforementioned examples can be respectively described as Mechanical, Language, Physical/Dexterity, and Artistic. Yet there are many more functional skills:

Interpersonal: Relate well, work well with others, both individuals and groups. “Often selected to welcome and orient new employees.” “Served as manager’s liaison to community volunteers, all senior citizens.”

Persuasive: Able to sell or demonstrate ideas, products and services to various groups. “Made presentations to Congressional staffers on pros and cons of proposed policy.” “Was recognized as outstanding keyworker in the Combined Federal Campaign (United Way) with donations to charity totaling over $5,000.

Spatial Analysis: Visualize or conceptualize the shape, dimensions, and surfaces of objects, 2D or 3D, from images, plans, or drawings. “Designed floor plans to maximize space from provided blueprints.”

Abstract Reasoning: Develop logical procedures without specific words or numbers as guides. “Created macros for the office PC that saved much admin time.”

Supervisory: Lead people, liaise with other work units, delegate responsibilities, mediate disputes. “Determined work assignments for 5 direct reports and coordinated work flows with our East/West Coast office three time zones apart.”

Coaching/Counseling: Help others to solve personal and work-related problems. “Assisted claimants in understanding their rights, responsibilities, and timelines.” “Was sought after to generate ideas for Alternative Dispute Resolution.”

Instruction: Teach skills and knowledge to others. Facilitate learning situations. “Trained 20 employees on how to use new inventory software.”

Numerical: Work accurately with figures, custodian of accounts and cash box. “Reconciled accounts payable and receivable, balanced accounts weekly.”

I trust you have retained copies of your OERs/EERs. Scanning the bullet points and accomplishments should identify a number of functional skills transferable to civilian work. O*NET Online offers a handy list to jog your memory at https://www.onetonline.org/skills/.  As a former USAR Turkish linguist, I would be remiss not mention translation as a functional skill.  Translation of your Army functional skills into civilian language may be required. Ask a mentor for help. The previous Blog covered adaptability skills; the next one will examine technical or job-specific skills.

Douglas Batson was a Cavalry Scout in 1st Bn 37th Armor in Ansbach, Germany, 1980-82. He is a National Certified Career Counselor and Senior Professional in Human Resources. In 2004, he retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Sergeant First Class.

AMP Registration Instructions

Thanks for your interest in joining the Alumni’s professional network. If you are starting your transition out of the military, or on to another opportunity in the commercial sector, this is where you can activate the network of your brothers-in-arm to help you reach your goal.

If you want to be a volunteer, thank you for giving back in one of the most important ways you can to your brothers. The network is only as strong as it’s volunteers and this service couldn’t be offered without you.

In either case, you need to complete the registration as follows below. For volunteers, there is an additional set of questions at the bottom of the form that we need to assign you to the tasks that you prefer.

Step One

There are two ways to access the Registration page. The first is from the Menu bar at the top of each page. On the Mentorship menu item you will see Register at the bottom. Once you are logged in, you will not see this item, nor need it.

The other location is on the Alumni Mentorship Program (AMP) landing page. At the bottom you will see a button labeled Register for Program that will take you there.

Step Two

Once you get to the registration page, you’ll be required to fill in all the fields except for the LinkedIn profile link as you may not have one yet. However, this is a critical part of activating the network and you will want to include it in your profile later if you don’t have one now.

The username will be used to identify you in most of the site and used to send messages to. So keep that in mind as you decide on a user name. You’ll be able to log in the site with either your Username or Email Address.

The last part of signing up is to tell us what Industries your interested in pursuing, or if you are a volunteer which ones you have experience with and could consult other members. Check all that apply.

Once you’ve filled in all your information, make sure to “Complete Sign Up”. That’s it! You will receive an email to the address that you provided asking you to validate your email. If you don’t see it after a couple minutes, please check your spam folder. You are on the path to getting help tackling the challenge ahead of you. They best part is, you won’t be alone.

Step Three (Volunteers Only)

However, if you are a volunteer, you will see more questions that need to be answered in order to assign you to tasks you prefer. The most important question we need you to answer is that you are a volunteer and not someone needing support in transition. Please make sure to click the Yes option. Then let us know what level of members you feel comfortable and able to work with. Additionally, what kind of support would you like to be involved with? If you don’t like writing resumes, well then you don’t have to check that block 🙂

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 4-View-Profile-Page.png

If you selected Other Focus, please tell us what you’d like to offer. We know there are so many creative ways to support those going through a job or career change and might want to include your ideas into the program. Then let us know if you’d like to be a lead Point of Contact (POC) for any of your interests.

At this point you will want to “Complete Sign Up”. You will receive an email to the address that you provided asking you to validate your email. If you don’t see it after a couple minutes, please check your spam folder.

That’s it. We have what we need in order to get you plugged into the AMP volunteers! Be on the look out for communications from the coordinator. Thanks again for offering your time and energy toward this effort.