COMMAND
SERGEANT MAJOR
JAMES
R. JORDAN
Sergeant
Major
Headquarters,
35th
Signal Brigade
XVIII
Airborne Corps,
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
United States Army
Senior
NCO Jordan decides to stay with his team
[this article originally appeared in the Fayetteville Times;
Fayetteville, North Carolina
By Henry Cuningham
Military editor
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=local&Story=6701792
Command Sgt. Maj. James R. Jordan asked to stay in the Army for a year beyond his mandatory
retirement date so he could complete a deployment to Iraq
with the 35th Signal Brigade.
''We are currently at war,'' Jordan
said. ''We are doing things, and it requires leaders to do certain things. That's what I am, a leader.''
Like his younger brother, retired basketball star Michael Jordan, James Jordan loves his
job, believes in helping his team, expects maximum effort from those around him, and will leave on his own terms.
The sergeant major stands 5-foot-7. His brother is about 6-foot-6. At Fort Bragg, the older brother has kept a low
profile and avoided calling attention to his family connection.
Command Sgt. Maj. Jordan and about 500 soldiers of the brigade are scheduled to depart
today for a year in Iraq.
Under normal conditions, the 47-year-old Jordan, who entered basic training in June 1975
and had three assignments in Korea, would
start winding down his Army career in the spring as he approached the 30-year mark.
His colonel promised to support whatever decision he made, but Jordan had no intention of getting on an airplane April 29, flying home and leaving
his brigade.
''That's not the way you want to end a 30-year career,'' Jordan said.
''People ask, 'Why?''' said Col. Bryan Ellis, the brigade commander. ''The answer is, he
is completely selfless. We all want to see it go well.''
No-nonsense
Jordan is a no-nonsense noncommissioned officer with a shaved head and a wry sense of humor. In his job,
he advises the commander as the senior enlisted soldier in the brigade of 2,450. Many of them are young specialists and sergeants
facing back-to-back extended tours overseas.
''If you don't believe in selfless service, you are not going to make it in this business,''
Jordan said.
It's not your age that counts, it's your mind, said Jordan, the oldest person in the brigade.
He went to airborne school, where most soldiers are in their teens or early 20s, as a 36-year-old first sergeant. At 47, he
will run eight miles for physical training and expects soldiers to be alongside him, not lagging behind.
Three years of Junior ROTC at New Hanover High School in Wilmington
helped convince Jordan that the Army was
for him.
''I figured I wanted to be a soldier, plus I was the oldest of five kids,'' he said. ''I
wanted to get out of the house and do something myself.''
In the early 1990s, he, as a sergeant first class, was the noncommissioned officer in charge
of the team fielding the Mobile Subscriber Equipment, the Army's cell phone system.
''You would ask senior people for the answers to questions,'' said Ellis, the brigade commander.
''They would always say, 'Talk to Sgt. 1st Class Jordan.'
He was the one that had the answers about anything - the training, the fielding, the maintenance.''
As Jordan sees it, his job is to help get the brigade to Iraq and back and resume the hectic
work of providing communications for the 18th Airborne Corps around the world.
''The brigade has got to be prepared to do the mission when we return,'' Jordan said. ''Quite a few critical people are preparing to
get out of the Army when they return.''
Preparing for danger
In recent months, he has been focused on preparing his soldiers for the dangers of Iraq.
''One of the things we found out is you've got quite a few soldiers who are technically
smart,'' Jordan said. ''They can make
a computer do everything you want it to do.''
But the computer-savvy soldiers also must know what to do on a Fort
Bragg firing range or when a convoy is ambushed in Iraq.
''Your technical skills ain't going to help you be able to put steel where it needs to
be,'' he said. '''Technical' ain't got nothing to do with it out there. You've got to be 'tactical' - just as qualified as
the infantry.''
And don't tell the command sergeant major that a soldier can't pass the marksmanship test.
''That's the wrong answer,'' he said. ''You'll stay at that till you get it done. If you
don't get it done today, you're going back tomorrow. Then tomorrow you get a little bit of love because I'll be standing over
top of you, making sure you get it right.''
That's what a sergeant major is for, he said.
A noncommissioned officer can't be effective sitting in an office or standing back with
hands on hips, he said.
''Some of my family really don't even know what I do,'' he said. ''They know I'm in the
Army. That's about it. My immediate family and my wife, my kids, not extremely happy, but they are on the team. They say,
'Daddy, do what you've got to do.'''
Jordan said his mother told him he has ''been in it forever.''
''I've been doing this by myself for so long, being my own person, being my own soldier,''
he said. ''I'm going to continue doing it the same way until the day I feel like I need to hang it up, not when they feel
like I need to hang it up.''
Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3585.
[this bio is presented on the 35th Signal Brigade website
at the link provided below]
http://www.bragg.army.mil/35sig/BDE%20CSM%20Bio.html
Command Sergeant Major
James R. Jordan
Sergeant Major James R. Jordan's most recent
assignment was Command Sergeant Major of the 327th Signal Battalion (Airborne), Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, since September 1998. He was born in
Rose Hill, North Carolina, on 13 September 1957. His military career began in June 1975 where he attended basic training
at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
He received Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in the Signal Corps at Fort Sill,
Oklahoma.
His CONUS assignments include the 24th Trans
Co, Fort Eustis, Virginia; 2/6 Cav, Fort Knox, Kentucky; 1/20 FA, Fort Carson, Colorado; 2/5 FA, Fort Riley,
Kansas; CECOM, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; 327th Signal Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Command Sergeant
Major Jordan has served four overseas tours, these include the 304th Signal Battalion, Republic of Korea; 271st Avn
Co, Camp Humphreys, Korea; 2D Eng Bn, 2ID, Camp Pelham, Korea; and 2/5 FA, Neu Ulm, Germany.
Command Sergeant
Major Jordan has served in every noncommissioned officer leadership position to include Team Chief, Operations Sergeant, First
Sergeant, and Command Sergeant Major. His military schools include training at the Transportation Noncommissioned Officer
Leadership Course, Fort Eustis, Virginia; numerous signal
electronic schools; ANCOC; First Sergeants Course; and the Sergeants
Major Academy. Command
Sergeant Major Jordan is working toward a degree in Business Administration.
His awards and decorations include the Meritorious
Service Medal (4th Oak Leaf Cluster); Army Commendation Medal (10th award); Army Achievement Medal (5th award);
Humanitarian Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces
Service Ribbon; NCO Professional Development Ribbon (4th award); and Good Conduct Medal (7th award). He also earned
the Army Parachute Qualification Badge as a First Sergeant.
