https://www.fayobserver.com/story/ne...es/7903064001/
(Shorten the post because the article is long read all his military info in the link.)
FORT BRAGG — For the past 70 years, retired Command Sgt. Maj. David Clark has woken up at 4 a.m. to be in the office by 5:15 a.m.
Special Forces veterans who served from the 1960s to 1980s knew Clark as their noncommissioned officer, while some of the soldiers currently donning the green beret might know him as an instructor or advisor.
Numerous commanders of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School have thanked retired Clark in their command change speeches.
Civilians working at the Special Warfare Center and School also know him as their advocate.
Clark, 92, who considers himself “middle-aged,” retired for the second time in his life on Friday at Fort Bragg after seven decades of federal service.
The Norman Park, Georgia, native enlisted in the Army in 1946, retired from the military in 1984 with 35 years of honorable service which included earning the Bronze Star and served another 35 years as an Army civilian.
Civilian career
In 1984, Clark retired from the Army after 35 years of service and worked for a parachute company for three years until crossing paths with a comrade who told him about a job on Fort Bragg.
Clark visited with a warrant officer, whose brother Clark served with before he was killed in Vietnam, and a master sergeant with the 18th Airborne Corps to ask about the job.
Clark was told to call a “little old lady in tennis shoes,” on post, who told him he was calling at 4 p.m. on a Friday.
Despite nearing the end of the work week, Clark was persistent and appeared before a hiring board that Monday.
“I told them if they hired me, I will never quit,’” Clark said. “I didn’t lie.”
Clark started his civilian career in 1987 as an instructor for the operations and intel committee John F. Kennedy Institute for Military Assistance.
He was later selected as the first branch chief for the Special Forces advanced skills advice/guidance accomplishment for all training functions and helped establish the headquarters structure for John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.
Clark retired as the plans and capabilities specialist of the Special Warfare Center and School, where he provided advice on civilian personnel to the commander, led a civilian advisory council, and advised on hiring actions.
Clark said he was quick to tell every soldier he worked with that he was a civilian and that he’d do anything for them within reason.
He was glad to offer advice if asked but always emphasized that the Army and commanders are their bosses.
Reeder said when he was commander of the Special Warfare Center and School, Clark was the first person he saw.
He said that every commander of the school since 1988 would say they never made a big decision without talking to Clark.
“This is one bad (expletive) Green Beret,” Reeder said.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. David Clark, far right, makes remarks during his retirement ceremony Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School auditorium, as retired Maj. Gen. Edward Reeder looks on.
During Clark’s retirement ceremony Friday, Reeder read more than a dozen letters from former commanders and sergeants major of the Special Warfare Center and School.
Retired Maj. Gen. James Parker, who commanded the Special Warfare Center and School from 2004 to 2008, wrote that he first met Clark at HALO School in 1974 and was fortunate to have Clark working as a member of the civilian team.
“He knew everyone, all the history, all the secrets,” Parker wrote. “He was my most trusted advisor.”
Retired Brig. Gen. Harrison Gilliam wrote that he wished every officer in the Army could spend an hour with Clark. Retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Bert Serrano Jr. described Clark as “an oracle of knowledge.”
During his civilian career, Clark was named the fifth honorary sergeant major for the 1st Special Forces Regiment and was inducted as a distinguished member of the Special Forces Regiment in 2003.
He has led a weekly Bible study for the soldiers and civilians, is a chaplain for the Special Forces Association Chapter 1-18, and is an active member of the Arran Lakes Baptist Church.
Grandfatherly advice
Though Clark was a civilian, it didn’t stop him from jumping.
He told leaders he’d pay them to let him jump instead of the military paying him.
Reeder said Clark had more than 9,000 static line and free fall jumps during his military and civilian careers, before stopping at the age of 83 — not because of an injury tied to a jump but because Clark broke his leg in four spots falling off a ramp outside a restaurant.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. David Clark continued to jump and skydive until he was 83.
Clark also has had six children 19 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren, outliving two children and a grandchild.
Continuing to work near Fort Bragg, Clark would take his twin grandsons to the St. Mere Eglise drop zone during training jumps.
He said one of the twins is currently an officer in a Special Forces unit.
The grandson, who asked not to be identified because of the nature of his job, said Clark is his hero.
“My grandfather has been my hero my whole life,” Clark’s grandson said. “He introduced me to my faith. He taught me how to behave like a man. He introduced me to the military and Special Forces. I owe everything to him.”
Clark’s grandson said early in his career, he was hesitant to tell fellow soldiers who his grandfather was because he wanted to put in the work for his own military career.
During Clark’s grandson’s selection process, he said one of the events was a mystery ruck in which he was required to march with a rucksack for a distance unknown to him to be completed in a certain time.
The grandson noticed Clark.
"He was there and slapped me on the head and said ‘God bless you, run faster,’” Clark’s grandson said. “At the end, he didn’t speak to me until he was able to make sure I had the right weight in my ruck.”
Clark’s grandson said his grandfather taught him to always hold himself to a higher standard.
Clark said the advice he’s given to his grandson and other soldiers is to leave their fears “at the bottom of the hill.”
“You can’t attack people shooting at you if you’re worried about getting killed,” Clark said. “You've got to leave that at the bottom of the hill and settle it with the guy (God) in charge.”
While Clark considers himself to be lucky to have been able to do exactly what he wanted to do his entire adult life, he said he’s not 100% sure what’s next now that he’s retired.
“I know I’m not going to go home and swing on the front porch,” he said. “It’ll be something helping the community in some way. I’m deeply involved in Arran Lake Baptist Church, and I have no intention of leaving Fayetteville.”
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at
rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
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