"We Never Did It That Way Before" is a one of a kind book which follows the life and times of CSM Thomas Brooks (Ret), a noncommissioned officer in the United States Army. The book begins during the author's young years in rural Mississippi entering the United States Army in August of 1967. This was a time when young men could look forward to one definite thing in life...they would be drafted into the Armed Services. The narrative recounts how this young man rose from Private to the top of his chosen military field, achieving the rank of Command Sergeant Major of the United States Army Recruiting Command.
Brooks believes his real challenges and accomplishments were in the Recruiting Command beginning just prior to the end of the Selective Service Draft in March 1972 through May 1998. It was there that he experienced all the growing pains and difficulties associated with the building of today's All-Volunteer Army, or the All-Recruited Army - a more accurate term.
Throughout the book, CSM Brooks provides a detailed picture into the life of an Army Recruiter and takes the reader through the process of recruiting individuals into the United States Army. Brooks also writes about the importance of leadership, especially in the United States Army, and offers his wisdom and guidance to current and future recruiters.
The United States Army Recruiting Command is a successful organization, which continues to accomplish the mission it set out to do more than forty years ago. That mission delivered the strength for our Army and eliminated the need for a biased Selective Service system which, at best, only provided bodies to fill vacancies, nothing more. The past four decades have been tough years for those who believed an All-Volunteer Army was feasible. CSM Brooks and fellow Recruiters wrote the handbook as they went. They made adjustments where necessary while continuing to march forward. The result is an Army second to none: highest paid, best trained, most educated and most capable of dealing with any threat from foreign adversaries. An Army that never says: We Never Did It That Way Before!
Author Biography:
Command Sergeant Major (Ret) Thomas R. Brooks was born January 7, 1948 in Hattiesburg, MS. He was raised in the small town of Seminary, MS - one of six sons. He enlisted in the Army in Jackson, MS August of 1967, and received Basic Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill, OK as a Field Artillery Crewman. His early assignments included a tour in Vietnam with subsequent assignments at Fort Carson, CO. Command Sergeant Major Brooks joined the Recruiting Command in 1972 as a Field Recruiter and Station Commander attached to the New Orleans Recruiting Battalion in Greenwood, MS. He continued to move up in rank and position with assignments in Jackson, MS, Ft. Worth, TX, Denver, CO., Albany, NY, and Ft. Baker, CA. August 1, 1996, he assumed duties as Command Sergeant Major of the United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), headquartered at Fort Knox, KY. His awards and decorations include: the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Vietnam Service Medal with five campaign stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal. He has a BS in Business Administration (Cum Laude) from Columbia College. Command Sergeant Major (Ret) Brooks and his wife, Wanda, currently reside in MS where he entered the Army some fifty years earlier. CSM Brooks' post-retirement endeavors include teaching high school in Arlington, TX, serving as a senior training analyst at Fort Monroe, VA and as the Director of Military Personnel Services at Fort Gordon, GA. He then retired for a second time in November 2013 and now enjoys traveling, taking piano and dance lessons, community service projects, winemaking and spending quality time with his extended family including his four dearly loved grandchildren Olivia, Avery, Ashley and Cooper Thomas.
