The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The prestigious Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award was presented to Captain Brad Buss, US Army Forces Command (center) during a ceremony at the Pentagon on October 5th by the United States Army's Vice Chief of Staff General Joseph Martin (left), and Mr. Ron Martin (right) representative from the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation.
Captain Buss, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dale (Donna) Buss of Media, is a 2008 graduate of West Central High School, 2012 graduate of West Point Military Academy with a degree in Environmental Engineering and holds a Master's Degree from Missouri S&T in Environmental Engineering & Management. He is married to his high school classmate Emily (Smith), formerly of Stronghurst. They have 2 children: Alexander and Oliver.
--------------------------
According to the Military Times, the awardees Captain Brad Buss received were the top 28 company grade officers and "among the Army's very best and brightest the military has, and that each of them carried out tough, diverse assignments while always remembering the Army values."
The selection process is vigorous and is made from around 120,000 officers of all components of the U.S. Army: active, guard, and reserve.
General Martin described their workload throughout the year and then added, "without a doubt, you have unheld General MacArthur's maxims of duty, honor, and country."
"Why do I say among the very best? Well, you went through a very tough cut to get here. To be one of the 28 awardees here today, is a reflection of your competence, your dedication, your leadership and your potential."
"How tough is it? Out of the 87 packets we received, 28 were selected. But that doesn't include the selection process you went through in your units. What I know from experience, it is very very thorough."
"If you are a commissioned officer, you represent 1 in 1800 amongst your contemporaries. If you are a Warrant Officer, you represent one in 2300 amongst your contemporaries. Commanders only want to send their very best to represent their units, so that is why you have to go through several gates to get here."
Not only your families and those at home are proud of you, General Martin said, "We are all very very proud of you, too," relating them as family. I've read your biography's... "you excelled in tough and diverse assignments and excelled to the point where your senior leaders noticed and provided you with additional opportunities to excel. The key point here is to do your best to keep duty, honor, and country in mind no matter what assignment you've been given even though it is not your first preference.
General Martin also noted that they come from a diverse set of backgrounds but at the end of the day you are able to come together with a shared set of values of leadership, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
With those values in mind, I am now going to ask for your help. These past years have been hard on our nation and our army is no exception to that . We must work hard to continue to build cohesive teams throughout the force characterized by relationships built on trust, mutual respect and empathy. I ask that you teach your junior teams that they must truly care for their soldiers for if you care and demonstrate it, they too will care.
"I think it was Teddy Roosevelt that said, 'Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care'."
He went on to say, "a leader must know how to identify when someone is struggling with something and take swift action in some cases to help that soldier as quickly as possible. Some people don't know how to do that. Leaders like you can teach them by your example and also by your experience. I know with your confidence, character and skilled leadership, you will create a culture of care in our army so that when we again are called upon by the American people, we'll be there. Our soldiers will be ready to meet any challenge presented.
Gen. Martin ended with: "People first, winning matters, Army strong,"
Mr. Roy Martin spoke on behalf of the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation and said, he heard the distant sounds of a final salute at Arlington Cemetery the day before and it put the true meaning of what it means to serve in perspective, and he wanted to give thanks to everyone who serves.
"Who Are We? In the words of General MacArthur: 'Important new chapters of history are written everyday. A new hero captures our imagination. Yet it is critical that we never forget times past, the heroes of yester-year and the lessons of the successes and failures.'"
Martin went on, "We salute your leadership and achievements. You have been selected for your excellence, and you honor us with your service. General MacArthur said, 'A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He doesn't set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.'" Martin said,
"Faithful to these words, General Douglas MacArthur's life and service were guided by the enduring value of duty, honor and country. Keeping with the foundations wishes to perpetuate these values." "Again, you were selected for your excellence and you honor us with your service." God bless you and your families and God bless the United States of America."
A 15 lb. bronze bust of General Douglas MacArthur was especially commissioned and presented to Captain Bradley D. Buss, US Army Forces Command, and 27 others.