New York National Guard Office of the Adjutant General

Be ready to go Above and Beyond the Basics

Command Message By Command Sergeant Major Edwin Garris,
New York Army National Guard Command Sergeant Major

I am Edwin Garris and I am proud to serve as the Command Sgt. Maj. for the New York Army National Guard, replacing Command Sgt. Maj. David Piwowarski on July 7, 2023.

During my career, I’ve had the opportunity to serve in the active Army and in organizations throughout our New York Army National Guard. I’ve been part of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and I deployed with the 42nd Division to Kuwait in 2020.

I had the honor to serve as the Command Sgt. Maj. of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team before moving into this position. During my career, I’ve learned a few things which I think all members of the New York Military Forces should consider as they serve our state and nation.

In my experience, our personal success comes down to timing and persistence.

Life is very challenging and can sometimes seem tough, and timing is a huge factor in every aspect of our lives.

Gaining employment, getting a promotion and even starting a family can depend on other things going on outside of your control. One can make the argument that in their personal pursuit, it was a person or a circumstance, or even racial issues, that prevented them from success or failure.

But when you peel the onion back, when you examine all the reasons why something didn’t happen, timing was a factor.

Your failures could have been success stories if the timing was different. Maybe you had a cold on the day of the job interview, or somebody else who took a test the same day you did, had a little higher score.

This is where persistence comes in.

Too many of us give up way to soon, or we let circumstance and people influence our pursuit of a goal.

I have found in my life that never giving up, never quitting and never letting the background noise of others stop me, works well. Never listen to the nay-sayers.

I have faced a lot of disappointments, let downs and disruption in my military career, and I have learned to focus on your own path and not that of others.

Never pay attention to the success of others, or what your peers are doing on your left and right. Their story is not yours and you don’t know what they’ve gone through to deserve their achievements.

But persistence as you navigate your own path to achieve your goal will help drive the outcome. The career of Walt Disney and his success is a story about timing and persistence.

Walt had pitched his idea for a cartoon mouse several times and gotten nowhere. But he finally pitched his idea to the right person and the timing was right.

His persistence paid off. He finally got the right person to buy into his idea, and the rest is history.

My success in my career really has had less to do with how talented I was as a Soldier or how well I performed. It was more about timing and persistence.

I had doors closed and opened, and a lot of failures and success. I felt I was ready for promotions and advancements, and a career full of success, but timing played a large roll in the outcome of my career.

You may be the most talented person on the team. You may be the only one qualified to get a particular thing done. And others may rave about your greatness. But the opportunity for promotion or the position to promote into may not be there.

Be persistent. Don’t be quick to give up. Wait for the right time. Because life is about timing and persistence.

-- Command Sergeant Major Edwin Garris, New York Army National Guard Command Sergeant Major

• About Contact Us
• Site Directory
• Register to Vote
• Policies & Disclaimers
• Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)