Colorado Springs at 150 years | The military s impact on growth and development | Premium gazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last week, I had the honor of interviewing Terrance McWilliams of El Pomar as part of the Colorado Springs Business Journalâs COS CEO leadership lesson speaker series. (CSBJ is a sister paper to the Indy.)I was humbled by the retired master sergeantâs candor, his grace under pressure throughout both his military and civilian careers.
I was also amazed at the manâs accomplishments. Weâre fortunate he decided to make the Springs his home. Did you know he achieved the rank of master sergeant after a mere 16 years in service? That, my friends, is almost unheard of.
Terrance McWilliams received his first leadership lessons as a Boy Scout. Those lessons were reinforced during decades of military service and put to use both in the Army and in his current job at El Pomar Foundation.Â
Raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, McWilliams followed in his fatherâs footsteps and joined the military, where he put to use the lesson his dad taught him: âGrowing up, you know, where I did, my dad always said Black people had to work twice as hard. So thatâs what I did.â
And it paid off â quickly. McWilliams joined the military as a private. And 18 months later, he was promoted to sergeant.
Amid the hue and cry over where U.S. Space Command will be permanently housed, one set of voices has been conspicuously absent: the troops who serve in the headquarters no matter where it calls home.
Members of the military are carefully taught to stay quiet about government decisions. America’s long history of civilian leadership over the military means those in uniform keep mum.
The association that represents most of those who serve the command, however, is now voicing a preference: keep it in Colorado Springs.
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Matt Anderson, an Air Force colonel and spokesman for the yearold Space Force Association that serves as a voice for members of the nation’s newest service, said his organization is convinced the command should be kept here for military reasons alone.