Sergeant Major Of The Army Julius W. Gates

I had the great pleasure of meeting SMA Gates and providing transport for him aboard our helicopter when he came through Augsburg, Germany in the late 1980s. It was quite a memorable experience for me and a real honor to meet him. I will never forget something he said to us as he was about to disembark from the helicopter. My co-pilot, and good friend/brother-in-arms, WO1 Keith Genter bid him "Have a nice day, Sergeant Major." as he was about to remove his headset. The SMA very matter of factly replied, "It's ALWAYS a nice day when you're a Sergeant Major!"...removed his headset and walked away from the aircraft. I looked at Keith, who still had this awestruck look on his face, and said, "Well, I guess he told YOU, didn't he?" LOL. I can only imagine that working directly for or with SMA Gates at any point during his career must have been a great pleasure. SMA Julius W. Gates held the top enlisted post in the Army from July 1987 until June 1991, retiring from active duty immediately following.