Parting Thoughts of a Servant Leader
From the editor: It’s hard to get a picture of Sgt. Maj. Combs. He stands outside the spotlight and prefers to work quietly behind the scenes as his U.S. Army Ranger and Sapper tabs might indicate. He doesn’t want fanfare and avoids bringing attention to himself. For the time that I have known him, his service to his battalion has been his voice. A man of measured actions, he is the ever-present mentor behind the crowd of cadets – watching, listening for an opportunity to guide those in his charge. He has been the quiet dedication to leadership education in 3rd Battalion for the last 9 years and early this fall, Sgt. Maj. Combs announced his approaching retirement in May. Despite his dislike of personal attention, he agreed to let me interview him for a farewell piece. As a co-worker, I selfishly enjoyed the interview with him and hope you do, too.
-Katie Mallory
What made you want to take the position of SEA?
The fall before the job opened, we came up here for a game in October of 2012. It just so happens it was Military Appreciation weekend and Friday was Corps Reunion. I had no idea about the Corps, I’d never been to Virginia Tech, I’d never been to anything around here, so it was my first time seeing this community. It was pretty ironic that about six months later as I was working with my transition officer at Bragg and there just happened to be a job at VT. It was the same place that we’d visited the year prior. There was probably a reason for that. So that helped my wife get back to VA and since I’d never lived here, that was good for me, and the job was military oriented, so I thought that was a pretty natural fit and at least a good steppingstone for the first place out of the Army. It was a win/win all around.
Was there a lot of difference being a senior enlisted soldier here vice being on active duty as a senior enlisted?
Not really. It’s pretty comparable at a different level, though. The differences came with the cadets. They’re not soldiers; they’re not active duty. Even a private or private first class has quite a few more competencies than the freshmen and sophomore classes. A lot of cadets don’t have that knowledge and experience because they just haven’t been here long enough. So, there is quite a gap between the basic soldier and the basic cadet. Juniors and seniors are more equal to the E-4s and E-5s. They’ve been in a military environment, been to military training; they’ve worn a uniform for a few years. Their competency level is quite a bit higher. Another difference is the training we do here is quite a bit different than what soldiers are doing out in the force. When we talk about training here, it’s a lot of conceptual training, paired with some practical application, with classroom training and some hands on. The Corps partnered with the ROTC components blend leadership with service-specific technical/tactical training that helps mold a more rounded cadet.
You’ve served with three different DCs from three different branches during your time (Col. Payne, Capt. McGrath, Col. Shelton). What was that like?
It's been really good overall. I'm thankful that if I was going to have three deputies, I would have chosen it just like that, for all three to be different. Of course, I probably learned more from Capt. McGrath and Col. Shelton because they are a different service than I am. I definitely learned some things from folks from other branches. Lt. Col. Payne was the first deputy I had; I was thankful that we came from the same background. We had a lot of the same schooling, the same training, and absolutely spoke the same language. I learned from all of them. It's good to be around other services with other backgrounds and strengths. They all had their strengths and weaknesses just like me, but I was able to adjust and adapt to all three pretty easily and enjoyed my time with all of them.
What’s your favorite Corps tradition, and why?
So, I can't just say one because there are too many. There are a lot...marching to games, saluting the rock, morning formation, Veterans Day, how cadets present the veterans gifts through campus. Watching flag cadets receive the colors on the field. Homecoming banners. Old Guard parade, seeing the old alums. Corps Reunion because seeing all the guys come back that I met over the years that I've grown pretty close to. Caldwell, for sure. I've been involved in that since I started here. Band banquet for sure, commissioning, Corps graduation, first salutes. We are busy and do a lot of things so there's no way to say just one for sure. Band banquet was always one of my favorite things. If you’ve never seen one, you have missed out.
Tell us about your time with the Rappel Team.
When I first got here it was very scripted and very rigid in terms of the training and who was assigned to the organization. It wasn’t as open as it is now. It's in a much better place in multiple areas. One, we have new equipment. Our gear is excellent now. Our training and the level of training that cadets are at now are much higher than it was. One key thing was the rappel committee was all Army, so when they had any kind of training event, we couldn’t do any training. That’s one reason I wanted to reach out to VPI and the battalions to have a more diverse training team. The fact that there were no females on the rappel committee was an issue of mine. Mature, confident young female cadets needed to be on the team. I felt both male and female cadets were necessary to bring a more enhanced training environment to the Rappel Committee, plus I wanted to use more of the Corps resources to make the best team I could. The team is more integrated with males and females and all the different services, and I think we make a better team.
What is your favorite (or funniest) work-related cadet story?
I don’t know that I have a funny story. Every now and again just walking down the hallway and hearing a room out of control or loud music, with a bunch of dudes in there laughing and carrying on, and I knock on the door, and you hear that silence. They open the door and you’ve got three knuckleheads in there all silent and as soon as the door shuts you hear a bunch of laughter. That always made me smile as I walked away.
What’s your parting message for the young alumni that you advised?
They won’t soon outgrow the term knucklehead, that’s for sure. A lot of cadets are so eager to get out of here and to start their career, start their job, and their life, that they minimize what we do here. We know where they are going is ironically very similar to here, but they can't digest that as truth. They have to see it for themselves and normally at the games or other opportunities when they come back, they look at me and say, “you know, some of that stuff you said to me is really true.” That’s pretty hilarious to hear. Yeah, we know! I’d also say service doesn’t stop when you leave. Actually, it never stops. I think cadets when they leave here, they think a lot of stuff is over, but it’s actually the beginning. Long hours and studying and up early and PT, that schedule seems horrible but there are probably not many out there now in the force that wouldn’t take a day back in the Corps versus a few days on active duty with the responsibility, time commitment, sacrifice, and the level of expectation that’s required. It comes pretty fast and hard when they put on real rank.
What are your hopes for the program as you leave?
I want to see the Corps infrastructure finished and finally integrated on Upper Quad. A more integrated Corps-ROTC environment; I think it will help when everyone is in the same buildings together. I hope to see our cyber component up and fully functional. I hope to see more support from the university and our donors with financial support to assist in outfitting the staff so that the Corps can run more smoothly.
Any parting thoughts on your time here?
It's been a good ride, that’s for sure. It was a little challenging at first with the university not being the active-duty military. I worked with a lot of good people, good staff members, and a lot of good cadets and I'll remember names as long as I can. A lot of kids out there are doing really good things. I keep in contact. I have at least 200 cadet contacts in my phone that I get pictures and updates from regularly. I hear from a lot of them. Cadets ask me that quite a bit about when cadets leave, if I’m still in contact with them, and yes - ten years of cadets from every service and walk of life in my phone is my example that service doesn’t stop. I think I've imparted some small nuggets of wisdom out there somewhere. The experiences exceeded my expectations upon arriving.
