SPOTLIGHT SFC ERIC SEARS
by Ms. Margaret C. Roth A
t the end of the day, it’s not helping execute millions of dollars in contracts that brings SFC Eric Sears the
greatest satisfaction. Nor is it working on a sprawling construction project.
For Sears, satisfaction is much more
likely to come from getting hot meals to Soldiers on a forward operating base or arranging for them to have showers. As the Brigade Plans and Operations NCO in Charge for the 414th Contract- ing Support Brigade (CSB) in Vicenza, Italy, the 32-year-old Sears thrives on the challenge of making things happen for Soldiers in tough situations. For him, that is what defines being a 51C Acquisi- tion, Logistics, and Technology (AL&T) Contracting NCO.
“Especially downrange, people don’t realize the force multiplier that you can become,” said Sears, who has deployed to Iraq, Kuwait, and, most recently, for 12 months to Herat, Afghanistan, his first deployment as a 51C NCO. Previously, Sears was a Motor Vehicle Operator.
“We had an office of four people; we supported upward of 20,000 Soldiers throughout Regional Command West in Afghanistan,” Sears said of his assign- ment
in Herat. “And it really allowed
commanders the ability to react to situations or requirements that they wouldn’t normally be able to if they had
200 Army AL&T Magazine
to go through a traditional supply chan- nel, because oftentimes those channels wouldn’t exist.”
In garrison, Sears added, requirements will
come “A lot of in for basic
infrastructure, life support, or whatnot around post. But when you’re deployed, or especially supporting an exercise or contingency, nine times out of 10 you’re there on [the] ground, talking to commanders, talking to vendors, talk- ing to people who actually need the requirement.
“Tat’s probably one of the best things I like about the job. It may take six or nine months, but at the end you might be able to say, ‘OK, there’s a fire base that I was responsible for contracting out to ensure it was built’ … there’s a tangible effect that you can see.”
SURPRISED BY SUCCESS Looking back over his 13 ½ years in the Army so far, Sears confessed to being surprised by how far he has come. Te Rochester, NY, native entered the Army in June 1999.
“I originally joined on a bet that I couldn’t beat someone on the ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery], and I ended up liking what I heard” in the Army, Sears said. “I never thought I would go past the original six years’ enlistment. However, I’ve had the
January–March 2013
opportunity to work with some out- standing leaders and mentors who have helped to shape me.”
Sears credits SGM Sandra Williams of the 906th Contingency Contracting Battalion; Kathryn Ford of U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) – Red- stone; LTC Craig Gardunia (USA, Ret.), Army Acquisition Center of Excellence; MAJ Ashantas Cornelius, ACC – Red- stone; and CSM Jeremy French (USA, Ret.), 414th CSB, for leading and inspir- ing him.
Williams, for example, was instrumental in encouraging Sears to finish his bach- elor’s degree. When he was accessed as a 51C in the summer of 2008, he had about 25 semester hours of college.
Within the first week, then-MSG
Williams, his senior enlisted advisor in the 902nd Contracting Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA, “made me sit down and lay out a plan that said this is how I’m going to get my degree. And while I was only in the battalion for six months before I PCS’d … she would keep checking and say, ‘Where are you at? Where are you at?’ ”
Within 24 months—including management a
12-month deployment to Afghanistan— Sears had his degree in hand, a B.S. in general
from Tomas Edison State College, from which he
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