Posted on 06/10/2006 2:09:50 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Retiring sergeant major's service called `slam dunk' for military
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE - based at fort bragg He has the same self-confidence, the same cleanly shaven head, the same famous last name as his brother. But James Jordan has always been his own man.
While his younger brother, Michael, made history on the basketball court, James Jordan forged a distinguished career in a different uniform -- Army green.
Now he has retired after 31 years, one more than required because he chose to stay and accompany his unit on a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq.
"The Army was my life," he said recently. "That's why I dedicated myself to it. I felt I could be very successful in it. It didn't require me to be 6 foot. It just required me to be physically fit."
Jordan, who stands about 5 feet 7 inches and is 48, rose to become command sergeant major of the 35th Signal Brigade, the Army's only airborne signal brigade, based at Fort Bragg. That's the top job for an enlisted signal soldier.
"Jordan may be short in height when it comes to his brother, but, man, he scored a slam dunk every time as a sergeant major," said Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Allen, the senior noncommissioned officer of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps.
When Michael Jordan became an NBA star in the 1980s, his older brother had already spent about a decade in the military.
He asked himself a question: "OK, what are you going to be? Are you going to ride a coattail or are you going to keep doing like you are doing?"
There never really was much doubt for a man who learned his work ethic during summers in the farm fields of southeastern North Carolina.
"One of the first things I learned before I went into the Army was that I was the oldest of five kids," he said. "My mom told me, `You have to earn everything you get.' "
His troops' dedication to him was evident during a retirement ceremony at Fort Bragg April 13.
"Do you know that, even though Michael Jordan was out there, everybody was still in line to shake Sergeant Major Jordan's hand, not to pay homage to his brother," Allen said. "I thought that was so cool."
This fine man is a recruiting ad all by himself. God bless him and his family.
Great post! Thank you CSM Jordan for your invaluable service to our Country. What you chose to do with your life is important!
Dixie Chicks could have learned from MJ.
damn...a COMMAND Sergeant Major!
That's almost as high as an enlisted can get. oh-la-la, I'm impressed.
I wonder what his original MOS was: He was Signal Corp.
damn...a COMMAND Sergeant Major!
That's almost as high as an enlisted can get. oh-la-la, I'm impressed.
I wonder what his original MOS was: He was Signal Corp.
America's finest bump! Thanks for serving James Jordan.
[How can one brother be NBA sized and the other only 5'7"?
It used to be that athletics and the military were pursuits that built character. Now it seems, it is just the latter.
I would love to be able to ask G. Looney what advice he would give to any fellow Hollyweird types who wanted to join the service, a la the real Hollywood men that DID protect everyone's freedoms during WWII.
Thank you, Sgt.Jordan, for everything you have done for all of us.
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