V OL.. 8 I SSU E 3 VOL
Ap A pril 20 01 12
SOLDIER OF THE YEAR GSDF HQ, Camp Clay, Marietta, GA, March 4, 2012- Cpl. Kara Kirby was named Georgia State Defense Force Soldier of the Year for 2011 at a ceremony during February drill. Kirby is the S3 for 1st Medical Company, Decon Platoon. She joined the SDF in January 2010 after seeing Capt. Clark Howard talk about his service in the GSDF. She and her husband, Cpl. Bryan Kirby, were looking for a way to serve the community, “to do something bigger than ourselves.” Lt. Anderson, the platoon leader of Kirby’s first platoon, nominated her for the award. She interviewed at the Brigade level and won, and then went to the state level and won. She says she is “a highly competitive nerd with a Napoleon complex. “I am an overachiever. My mom calls me a super Napoleon.” Born in Tallahassee Florida, Kirby has lived in Georgia since moving to Harris County Georgia in 1994. She attended Columbus State University for two years and finished college at Auburn University. She graduated with a BS in Zoology. She now lives in Newnan with her husband, two cats and a dog. As a civilian, she is a veterinarian assistant. Cpl. Kirby Feels very comfortable doing drill and ceremony and has been mistaken for prior service due to her proficiency. She says it is because she was in marching band in High School and at Auburn University. That is where she gets her discipline. She says that compared to GSDF, “the commands are the same, military style marching.
NCO OF THE YEAR GSDF HQ, Camp Clay, Marietta, GA, March 4, 2012. Staff SGT John S. Derucki, IET Instructor, HHC, 911th Support Battalion, 76th Brigade, has been named “NCO of the Year” for The Georgia State Defense Force. He was awarded this designation following a rigorous selection process that included other outstanding candidates previously chosen at the Battalion and Brigade levels for this high honor. The selection process required “lots of prep time,” according to Staff SGT Derucki, and the ability to successfully compete against other qualified candidates across many areas of military knowledge, personal attributes and participation in GSDF drills, activities and missions. Specific areas of competence evaluated included many questions from the Army Study Guide, recitation of the NCO Creed and knowledge of relevant current events, among many others. When asked his motivation for competing for this high honor, Staff SGT Derucki replied, “I went in there to represent the NCO’s in my unit as well as the NCO corps and to set an example for all soldiers”. He then added, “110% to try to set a good example. I want every person I train to strive for the same thing”. Staff SGT Derucki has attended numerous GSDF schools, including Basic NCO Course, Search and Rescue II Course, Basic Instructor Course, GaANG Funeral/ Military Honor Training, and the Master Rappel Course, all in addition to the courses completed while he was on active duty as Section Chief, HHB, 1/7 Field Artillery, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, KS. continued on page 2