Has the reconfiguration of forces to War Fighting and the creation of Brigade Combat Teams, caused every unit you were ever in to disappear?

Thanks for your comments. The only Infantry BN I was ever in, was 3-14 INF BN, 10th ID at Fort Drum. I credit that unit with my opportunity to excel and eventually make SGM. That BN Commo Chief position was a shocking challenge, where the nine previous soldiers that held it, had all failed. This gave the BN CDR the attitude that all senior Signal NCOs were worthless POGs. The highest ranking enlisted Signal soldier in the BN was a CPL. The MTOE had one SFC, one SSG, and two SGTs all were vacant. In my initial interview with the BN CDR, the first words out of his mouth were, "So what the F?#k is wrong with you?" After that shocking opener we came to an understanding that I was willing to meet the challenges that Light Infantry offered. I had excellent working relationships with most of the SFCs and the 1SG in the company as well. Once I proved my worth by meeting or exceeding all challenges thrown at me, the entire leadership staff went to bat for me when I was promoted to MSG, 18 months later. Almost immediately a competition for a 1SG slot opened in 10th Signal BN, another unit that no longer exists. Myself and seven other MSGs competed. I believe the letters and comments provided by the BN CDR, XO, CSM and my 1SG made me a shoe in for that job. I won the completion hands down. Later the Signal BN CDR told me that after he had read my packet and interviewed me, he never even considered giving the job to any of the other candidates. Unfortunately, within six months of my leaving, that unit was redesignated 2-14 INF BN and the 3-14 INF BN no longer exists either. At that time about 1/3 of the units on Fort Drum were redesignated. I guess that finishes my rant.

Yes, so many changes I have not been able to keep up with them. I had been in16th Sig BN 2000- 2003. When I retired in 2005, I was in 3rd Sig BDE at Fort Hood, TX. It deactivated soon after I retired, as did 16th Sig BN. 57th Signal is the only part of it that is still around. It was reflagged 57th Expeditionary Signal Bn. It seems someone had an aw shit, we shouldn't have done that moment and 11th Sig BDE was reactived at Fort Hood in 2008. It now has four BNs under its command; 40th, 57th, 67th, and 80th ESBs. Three are on Fort Hood one is at Fort Huachuca, AZ. There is also a separate Signal Company, 16th Signal Company (TIN), that sends out five and six soldiers teams to do total rewire on computer internet and phone systems. They normally do one Building at a time per team. To do a whole Command they send out several teams one for each building. As you can guess they are gone TDY a lot. There are only two of these companies Army wide. There are lots of separate Sig Companies assigned to BCTs it seems with the bulk of Signal soldier assigned to them Army wide.

Operational Signal Battalions and Brigades are almost entirely a thing of the past. There is one BDE and two BNs still operational that I know of for sure. There may be a few more I am not aware of. Most were split up into individual support companies and permanently assigned to BDE Combat Teams. There are still several in the Training Command at Fort Gordon, GA. 31Z was transitioned to 25Z. In 2005 all Signal MOSs were changed to mirror the Signal Officer Branch Identifier of 25. 25Z40 is Visual Operations Senior Supervisor. They do PLT SGT duties with Video Teleconference, Combat Camera Operator, and Combat Documentation duties under their perview. In Signal Companies 25F40 Forced Entry Switchboard Supervisor is the main PLT SGT. I noticed you retired the year I enlisted. Interesting.

SGM Joel Cook - I was on SGM promotion list when I decided to retire. Did the math,1 year for sequence to come up and 2 year lock in and an assignment that i was not crazy about. Turns out that it was the best decision, however I still have regrets of not holding that rank because it was a career goal.

MSG Jim Sterling - I made the SGM list at a little under 19 years TIS. My sequence number came up on 1Sep1999, which was exactly one year, and one day after my 20 year mark. It was an easy choice for me, I loved what I was doing and had an opportunity to get back to Fort Hood, Tx where we own a home. Moved back into our home, got the family set up in jobs, both kids ready to graduate HS within five years so no more moving for the family, just me. I did a short tour in Korea by myself in 2003, with guaranteed return to Fort Hood after I negotiated with DA on a needs of the Army, hardship tour in 2ID, in exchange for that guarantee. Basically I volunteered for that hard job nobody else wanted so I could come back to Ft Hood after. They even put it in my orders. Came back to Fort Hood and in less than 6 months I was in Iraq. What a surprise, I tore my rotator cuff 10 months into that tour, being a nice guy helping a PLT SGT load Signal Packages into transport containers at midnight, for early morning delivery. That got me a permanent medical profile of no push-ups forever. I couldn't see myself not doing PT for my last three years so I retired at 27, in 2005.