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.